


What's Going on in the 14th Floor?

by honeyspotlight



Category: NCT (Band), NCT U - Fandom, NCT127
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Comedy, Dorms, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Love Triangles, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-06 16:25:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 41,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17348561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyspotlight/pseuds/honeyspotlight
Summary: What about staying in Taiwan for a full school year?Frankie and June were thrilled for the exchange experience at Asia's most prestigious university, Taiwan National University, or TaiNu for short. Enter Taeyong the quiet chaos, Jaehyun the perfect god, Johnny the boy-next-door, and Lucas the mischief attractor to the full roster of level 14's occupants.What about staying in Taiwan for a full school year?Get ready to be tangled in the web of crushes, infatuations, and non-stop studying.





	1. Chapter 1

##  (September;九月) 

“Get ready for our touchdown,” the captain spoke in the speakers, his voice blasting all throughout the plane. His voice was raspy and cool. This was it. This was the time that June was waiting for: to finally unclasp the chains of her parents and experience what it was like to be truly free.

She had always wondered how those US college kids felt, staying in a dormitory and eating leftover pizza in the morning. As pathetic as it sounded, June wanted to experience it, too. She was in her third year of college and not once had she stayed in a dormitory or ate leftover pizza in the morning. She never even had a sleepover in one of her friends’ house. It was always school and then home.

This was her time. To stay in a dormitory, make friends with her roommate, and eat leftovers and maybe while experiencing a bad hangover.

Singapore had the best education in all of Asia but she just can’t help going in for an exchange for a year. After all, Taiwan National University, or TaiNu as was lovingly called by the locals and students, dethroned Singapore’s university as number one in the whole of Asia. It was a different experience and you could discover new things about yourself. June had also been interested in Taiwan’s culture. This program was just perfect for her; she could just feel it.

A cabin crew member announced that the plane had safely landed. June exhaled. A few moments from now and she would be breathing fresh Taiwan air.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The single light in the fourteenth floor turned on. Frankie couldn’t believe she was the first one to arrive at the whole floor.

The new school year would start the day after tomorrow and she felt excited and nervous at the same time; a little push and she’d be feeling nauseous as well.

Out of all the students who put Taiwan National University as their choice, she was one of the lucky few who had been nominated by her school and actually flew her here. She honestly hadn’t yet grasped the idea that she will be staying in this beautiful city, in this prestigious university for a year yet. Getting to TaiNu even just for an exchange is hard. The student exchange board was pretty picky and ruthless as she had heard. Frankie was proud to be one of the best.

She wheeled in her luggage inside. She had the two large suitcases both of the same color, a pale shade of blue, placed on the foot of her bed. Frankie also had a backpack containing her more personal and fragile stuff. She removed it from her back and put it down on the floor next to her suitcases.

Frankie looked around the room. This was certainly more than enough than what she had expected. The blinds lift up automatically when she pressed a button next to the light switch. The room also smelled like lavender detergent. She figured TaiNu really had the best dorm experience in all of the universities on her list.

Level 14 had seven rooms in total and she had known a while back that all international exchange students staying for a year or more get their own rooms. At first, she could not believe that that was true because it was a waste of space and resources but now that she had seen it with her own two eyes, she understood why.

The room was certainly fit for one person only, two persons maximum. But the room did not make her feel claustrophobic. It had a big window and a nice view of the city. It was just right. The right amount of space, the right amount of light coming in, and the right frequency of white noise. Frankie decided to explore the fourteenth floor and decorate her room later.

There were only six rooms unoccupied and she found out that the last room is a small gathering area for the occupants of the floor. It had a sofa, three bean bags thrown around, a flat screen TV hanging in front of the sofa, two potted plants, and a circular mirror next to a plant. It also had a mini-kitchen complete with an electric stove, a medium-sized fridge, a microwave, and a toaster. TaiNu had equipped them with cooking materials. Frankie was impressed with TaiNu’s dormitory system.

After briefly snooping around the gathering area, Frankie sneaked in on the unoccupied rooms.

All of the rooms had a small post-it note pasted on the door. Pink for girls, blue for boys, Frankie figured. The room beside her had a pink post-it note with a handwritten name scribbled in, June Chien. Her name sounded friendly and obviously, Chinese. She made wild guesses in her mind on what country she came from.

Three rooms were on the right side, her side, and four rooms on the left side were plastered with blue post-its. Frankie read all of their names: Taeyong Lee, John Suh, Jaehyun Jung, and Lucas Wong.

She wasn’t the one to chase boys but she prayed to the Heavens that at least one of them were cute to make her stay more delightful. It wouldn’t hurt to have just a cute boy in the fourteenth floor.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Frankie got more than she had wished for. The four guys were absolutely stunning.

Taeyong Lee looked like the human version of Jack Frost with his dyed platinum blonde hair. His features were sharp, with his jawline and gaze the sharpest of them all. He definitely seemed the coldest and the toughest nut to crack of the four.

Jaehyun Jung looked the friendliest, most approachable of the four. Still, his face screamed out perfect. Frankie thought he was one of the most popular boys in his school. Jaehyun’s face seemed the kindest.

The one sitting beside her was John Suh. He had the most sumptuous lips Frankie had ever seen. His defined philtrum was a weird attractive point for Frankie. John was not the traditional kind of handsome—he did not look cold like Taeyong nor warm and gentlemanly like Jaehyun; he had his own charm. He looked soft but at the same time, manly. His fluffy, dark brown hair parted in the middle and not many people could rock a middle-parting hairstyle. Out of the four, he was the one with the best fashion sense, at least in Frankie’s opinion.

The final boy, the one who sat farthest away from her was Lucas Wong.

Earlier when the four entered the room, Frankie noticed how tall Johnny and Lucas were, especially Lucas, even though he was only a few inches taller than Johnny. She felt so small compared to them with her 161-centimeter height.

Frankie was convinced that Lucas was a model. He could step out of rags and sacks and Lucas would still make it look high fashion.

Lucas had large, gorgeous eyes and a high, kind of pointy nose. His features were so well-defined and he looked so dashing. Lucas had the looks of a grown man but an aura of a little boy.

Lucas noticed Frankie staring at him and he cannot help but chuckle. Frankie only hoped she wasn’t that obviously ogling at him. He breathed a small “hi” and waved at her. Frankie shyly waved back. Lucas winked at her back. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of heat rushing through her cheeks. Please, don’t let me blush right now.

The atmosphere in the room was strange, a little tense, and a whole lot of awkward. No one was speaking to each other until Lucas finally burst into a big “hello”. He stood up. The people were all taken aback by his deep voice. The tone was certainly not expected of his looks.

“I’m Lucas, Lucas Wong,” he greeted, his deep voice bright and a bit cheery. Frankie syllabicated Lucas’ name in her mind. Loo-kas. For her, it sounded sexy.

Just then the door opened. One of the two roses in the fourteenth floor had finally arrived. “I’m sorry, I took a nap and forgot the time,” June spoke with such a breathy voice.

“It’s okay; we’ve all just arrived too,” Lucas had become the unofficial spokesperson of the room.

Taeyong’s body jolted awake. He was more aware of his surroundings now. June’s eyes became big like a deer caught in headlights. Their eyes both exuded the same intensity, guilt, sadness, longing, but mostly anger. Lucas sat down when Taeyong and June made contact with their eyes.

“Taeyong Lee.” June tried not to be pissed. Her eyebrows furrowed and she took a seat next to Lucas. Luckily, Taeyong was beside the plant.

“June Chien,” his voice sounded harsh, enunciating her name in a mocking way. He sent deathly stare daggers back at her. All of the people in the room not named June and Taeyong also felt the pressure and tension.

Johnny, Jaehyun, and Frankie all kept silent. The three had slightly picked up what was going on. “Are you like enemies at school?” Lucas cracked. It was a joke, to lighten the atmosphere. It did help as June loosened her fist.

“Taeyong’s my ex,” she admitted. June sank deeper into her seat and watched as Taeyong moved onto his original emotionless façade. Johnny, Jaehyun, Frankie, and Lucas turned their eyes into Taeyong. “What?” he said, noticing the stares. “She said what should be said,” Taeyong confirmed icily.

“Okay.” Lucas scratched his nape, a bit lost. “Shall we introduce ourselves?”

The five nodded. “We’re not going to make this awkward for you all, I promise,” June reassured. Taeyong just rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t we start with you?” June pointed at Lucas. He didn’t mind saying his name all over again, especially if it helped made Frankie remember. For him, she was just so charming and pretty. Scratch that, she was beautiful. Perfect, Lucas thought as he glanced at Frankie.

Frankie and June obviously did not look alike.

June looked more classy and elegant with her long, flowing brown-hued hair, perfectly drawn eyebrows, and stunning dark red lipstick that accentuated her pouty lips. Frankie was more on the cute, quirky side; with her medium-length wavy dark hair, two parallel-aligned, dot-like moles under her left eye, and small, peach-tinted, blossom lips. But still, both are extremely attractive.

“I’m just going to state my name, nickname, the year I was born, ethnicity, what country I came from and my major to get things fast.” But the truth was that he did not want to go over the introductions fast. He still wanted to linger his stare at Frankie’s beautiful face.

But they all have a feeling June and Taeyong just wanted to get this over with. They obviously didn’t want to be in the same room for a long period of time. Frankie, Lucas, Johnny, and Jaehyun were not sadists. They did not want to torture the ex-couple and also, there would be plenty of time for them to hangout, just without the strong tension surrounding the room.

“I’m Lucas Wong. Call me Lucas.” He turned his gaze towards Frankie, “but you can call me baby,” he winked. Johnny, Jaehyun, and June chuckled at his action. Frankie couldn’t help but to release a half-embarrassed, half-flattered giggle. Her insides were tingly and she felt butterflies in her tummy. “1999. Half-Chinese, half-Thai from Hong Kong. Architecture,” he finished and sat down.

“June Bettina Chien. I’m only referred to as June. 1996. Chinese from Singapore. Mechanical Engineering.” People in the room did not expect June to be a STEM female except for Taeyong. Taeyong knew she had always wanted to be an engineer. He felt a bit happy on the inside to know she was still in pursuit of her dream.

“Jaehyun Jung. Just call me Jaehyun; if that’s too hard for you to pronounce, Jae’s fine. 1997. Korean from Korea. International Business.”

“John Suh but Johnny’s my nickname. 1995. Korean from Chicago, USA. Music production.”

“Frankie Miyashiro. Not Frances, not France, not Francesca, just Frankie. Frankie’s my real name and also my nickname. 1998. Filipino-Japanese from Osaka. Linguistics.”

“Taeyong Lee. Taeyong’s fine. 1995. South Korean. Classical Ballet.”

Also, not all of them expected Taeyong to be studying ballet except for June. June always knew his passion in life.

“Okay, so now that we know each other we can go to our rooms and rest. There’ll be plenty of time to hangout again,” Jaehyun’s voice echoed throughout the room. The five agreed and split.

It was a tiring day and hopefully tomorrow will be less stressful.


	2. (September;九月)

June woke up earlier than she had expected last night. She had her alarm set at exactly 6 am but here she was, in the common room’s mini-kitchen at 5:30 am, making a small breakfast for herself.

The light sizzle of the scrambled eggs she was cooking gave her a sense of comfort. The smell of the coffee in her mug hugged the room. Taipei was calming and silent and June felt good.

As soon as the egg was done, she removed it from the pan and put it straight to her plate. It was good that the common room’s fridge was stocked with food and it was also nice that the university had provided them some kitchen essentials. It never will cross a student’s mind to pack some frying pan for cooking eggs.

June sat on the wooden chair, fork in her hand. She dug in to her scrambled eggs, two freshly-toasted, sliced wheat breads, and black coffee, just how she liked it. Her mind wandered to the girl rooming beside her, Frankie. She made a mental note to knock on her door and talk to her. Frankie seemed friendly and June wanted Frankie to be her friend.

As much as she hated it, her mind also travelled to Taeyong territory. She admitted that he looked too good in blonde hair. The last time she saw him was with his pink hair. About two years ago in Singapore. The guy had always dyed his hair in crazy colors. He liked to take risks and was unafraid. He never had doubts that the color would look bad on him. June liked to think that he was aware of how handsome he was that he could rock any hair color. June swore that there wasn’t any color that will look awful on him as she mentally thought of Taeyong with a bright blue-green hair.

The door lightly opened but that was enough to jolt her out of thinking. Her heart beat faster. What if it was Taeyong?She was not ready to spend a time alone with him, not after the shock that happened two nights ago.

“Hey,” a male voice that was not Taeyong filled her senses with relief. “Hey, good morning,” she greeted back. June turned her head towards the door and saw the voice belonged to Jaehyun.

Jaehyun was dressed in a matching set of blue pajamas. He looked comfy and fresh out of bed. His hair was half-messy, half-not. June cannot decide if he combed his hair before coming in to the common room or he just ruffled his hair in a random way. He was also wearing fluffy bedroom slippers.

“Do we have milk?” Jaehyun asked, peeping inside the fridge. June did not know why he asked her that when it was obvious that he was looking inside the refrigerator. She figured he was trying to make small talk or start a conversation.

“Yup, two carton packs, left side,” June said concisely and took another forkful of her scrambled eggs. In her opinion, she made the best scrambled eggs in the world. “Wow, we really get our money’s worth, huh?” Jaehyun commented. He got the carton of milk out of the fridge, got a glass, and poured the milk in.

He sat opposite of June as he chugged the milk. June was almost finished in eating her carbs and protein. She prayed to the gossip gods Jaehyun was not the kind of guy who will open an uncomfortable topic, specifically on what happened two nights ago.

“I love eggs but poached eggs are my favorite,” Jaehyun put down the glass of milk. He looked at June’s almost empty plate. “Mine’s scrambled,” June replied. This conversation was getting nowhere. Jaehyun can’t exactly navigate on how to get her talk.

“What time is your class?” he asked, changing the topic. Talking about how you like your eggs in the morning was a dead end. “Eight,” June shortly answered. “Yours?” she asked back. She doesn’t want Jaehyun to feel that he was the only one making an effort on getting to know his floor peers. “Seven thirty,” Jaehyun stood up again to check the contents of the fridge. Just drinking milk will not make him full.

“Better hurry then, it’s about six,” June kidded and she hoped the vibe came across as a joke rather than light scolding. “Don’t worry, I’m never late,” Jaehyun smiled, getting out two pieces of eggs himself. He looked like the kind of person who was never late, always on time, always responsible.

June put her plate, the mug, the pan, and her used utensils in the sink. She began to wash them. “You know you can leave your plate there and I’ll wash it after I’m done,” he stared at her hands in motion. “No, I like doing dishes. My parents don’t always make me wash dishes,” June put on some dishwashing liquid in the pan and began scrubbing it. Jaehyun decided to take over as it seemed June did not know that non-stick pans should not be scrubbed aggressively.

“Teflon pans like this should not be scrubbed because the coating might chip off,” Jaehyun informed. He was not irritated or implied that June was stupid for not knowing a dishwashing trick, his tone was informing, patient even. June nodded as she watched Jaehyun effortlessly removed the stains with his nice hands. “See? If you use your hands the coating will not flake off,” he wiped the pan with a small towel on the counter and placed the pan on the electric stove. June wondered why he didn’t put the pan away. “I’m going to cook myself some eggs, too,” Jaehyun stated as if he had read June’s mind.

“You’re a year younger than me, right?” June was waiting for Jaehyun to confirm. He agreed with a nod. “Wow, and I don’t even know how to wash pans properly,” she sighed and put both of her hands on her waist. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn it in no time,” Jaehyun assured as he put a dash of oil in the already heated pan. ‘Don’t worry’ seemed to be Jaehyun’s frequently used statement. It suited him. He was so reliable and gentlemanly, exactly befitting of his looks. “You go to your room, I’ll take care of the remaining dishes,” Jaehyun would fit being a class president or a big brother or an extremely caring boyfriend.

June can’t help but make a small nod of agreement. It was going to be 6:10 in a minute and she had to take a bath, choose an outfit, fix her hair and make-up, and calm herself down before going to her first class. Not to mention the international dormitory was far from the building of where her first class was located so she had to trod down some few meters. “Okay, thank you,” she slowly moved away from Jaehyun and made her way to the door. Just as she was going to open, she looked back at Jaehyun who was busy making his breakfast. She pushed her system to let the words out.

“Knock on my door if you need something,” it was a way of June saying thank you. Jaehyun asking her to buy milk tea with him would be a nice gesture of ‘you’re welcome’.

He turned his head to her and flashed her a tiny lopsided grin, “of course, don’t worry.”

This morning he had said ‘don’t worry’ three times. Jaehyun maybe liked being the one to rely on to. With that, June got back to her room and finally took a warm bath to awaken herself fully.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

A pair of ballet shoes was sitting on his desk. Rather than books, Taeyong’s desk was decked with three overused ballet shoes and tights hung from his chair. He had a small notebook and a thick copy of Rudolf Nureyev’s biography in the built-in shelf. The orange glow of the sunset illuminated the items in his desk.

Taeyong was fixing his things in his closet. He wasn’t that much fashionable as he kept his clothes in neutral colors. His hair was the only colorful part of his himself.

A knock came from the door. Taeyong rushed to open it.

The tall man, Johnny, waved his hand, trying to be friendly and remove the awkwardness. Taeyong raised his eyebrow. Johnny’s shirt was splattered with foam, probably from the soap, and some water stains.

“Um, hi, I’m sorry for disturbing you,” Johnny started. Taeyong’s height was small compared to Johnny. He felt like he was David to Johnny’s Goliath. Johnny might had been taller in height but Taeyong still exuded more strength and masculinity than him. Johnny seemed to be the cute soft boy from Tumblr aesthetic dashboards who listens to Mac Demarco and the Arctic Monkeys, or that was how Taeyong viewed him.

“What do you need?” Taeyong asked straight-up, his hands crossed over his chest.

Johnny took a good look at Taeyong. He wasn’t that tall but his proportions are good. He had defined muscle tone that he definitely got from doing ballet. Johnny was a little jealous of Taeyong’s body. He must remember Taeyong’s body every time he goes to the gym.

He scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “I ran out of laundry detergent; do you have some?” Johnny blurted. Taeyong nodded and rummaged his luggage for a pack of laundry detergent. Johnny looked at his actions as he finds for the thing.

Taeyong brought out a small, green box and gave it to Johnny. “Thanks,” Johnny gives a small nod. “Are you handwashing your clothes?” Taeyong can’t help but ask. If he had been using the washing machine in the common room, there will have to be fewer to no soap and water stains in his shirt.

The taller boy answered, “yup”. Taeyong thought that maybe Johnny was one of those people who prefer handwashing than putting their clothes to the washing machine. Maybe Johnny’s clothes were sensitive materials.

“There’s a washing machine and a dryer in the common room, just so you know,” Taeyong shrugged and began to close the door. There were a lot of things he hadn’t unpacked yet and classes were starting tomorrow.

“Hey,” Johnny spoke, preventing Taeyong from closing his door. “Do you mind if we hang?” he suggested. Taeyong thought that he’ll try to make friends to distract his mind from June and he can ask Johnny later to help him unpack. What a user. “Okay,” Taeyong closed his door and followed Johnny from his room.

Johnny got his small washbasin filled with three, already wet and soapy shirts and went straight to the common room with Taeyong.

Johnny did not notice that there was a washing machine and a dryer in the common room and the tiny area was next to the bathroom. Taeyong helped Johnny load the washing machine even though there were only three articles of clothing.

“It hasn’t been a week since were here and you’re already washing clothes,” Taeyong cannot help but ask. The two boys stared at the washing machine going in fast circles. “Those were my favorite shirts. I want to wear one tomorrow for the first day. I wore it when I went to O’Hare, changed one when I made a stop to Shanghai, and wore one yesterday,” he explained in details even though Taeyong has no use for that information.

“Don’t really do laundry, do you?” Taeyong leaned against the dryer. Johnny sat down on the white tiles, not taking his gaze off the circling motion of the washing machine makes. The soap suds made it look like skies, like he was gazing through the airplane window.

“Nah, it’s the worst chore,” Johnny chuckled. He was okay with having to do house chores but he hates doing laundry the most. Back in Chicago, he’ll just leave his clothes in the laundromat. He was sure that the people there will take care of it because his usual laundromat has five stars on Yelp.

“I don’t have a choice because I always wash my tights and leotards, also clean my shoes,” Taeyong was referring to his ballet shoes and he was sure Johnny got it that he was talking about ballet clothes. “Bummer,” Johnny breathed. The machine stopped its operation and beeped. “Well we don’t really have a choice, do we?” Taeyong opened the machine and transferred Johnny’s clothes into the dryer.

“By the way, help me unpack. Payment for doing this,” Taeyong punched in some buttons on the dryer. Johnny laughed, “sure, man.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Frankie learned that she was alone in the whole floor. She had been wanting to ask June if she wanted to have dinner with her but it was too late as June was nowhere to be seen. She had already knocked three times in her door. She wasn’t in the mood to interact with the boys. Frankie needs another female presence. Defeated, she went back to her room.

She sat on the chair in front of her desk. Her grammar textbook was open, she had been contemplating on whether she’d study in advance or not. Her decision-making skills was put to the test again because she was also now thinking if she wanted to her food to be delivered or not. Pathetic, she thought. Fast food delivery on her first week in Taipei.

There came three vigorous knocks in her door. She stood up to answer it.

“Hey,” Lucas smiled. Why did he look like, like God sculpted Lucas himself?

“Hey,” Frankie repeated Lucas’ greeting. She had previously thought she was alone.

“You want to grab dinner?” he asked her out while pointing this thumb to the direction of the elevator. “Yeah, sure,” Frankie smiled, grabbed her phone and wallet, and together they went descended to the lobby.

“What do you have in mind?” Lucas broke the silence. He loved seeing Frankie startled then proceed to think. Frankie pressed her lips together. Ideas had not come to mind and she always had answered fried chicken when in doubt, but tonight, she wanted something else, not just fried chicken.

“You? What do you want to eat?” Frankie pushed the question back to him. Lucas chuckles sexily, strands of hair falling down to his forehead in the process. Frankie felt her whole body heating up. If God played Sims, Lucas was his main account.

She checked on her phone and googled ‘what to eat in Taiwan’. Lucas easily saw what Frankie was doing because of their height differences. “Flour-rice noodles,” Lucas answered. Frankie looked back at him with semi-confused eyes. Her eyes resembled brown glitters. She was simply a fairy turned human for Lucas.

“I want to eat flour-rice noodles,” he clarified. “Yeah, I knew that, you said flour-rice noodles, mee sua, obviously,” she smiled and locked her phone now their dilemma was solved. Lucas grinned at her pronunciation of mee sua. “Where?” she continued. “I know a stand near the entrance gates that sells mee sua,” Lucas lead the way.

Walking from the international dormitory to the main entrance gate of TaiNu took five minutes. And in those five minutes, Lucas expressed how excited he was for tomorrow. Frankie took note of how enthusiastic and talkative Lucas was. Frankie thought that she blabbers too much but it made her rethink on what she initially thought of herself because of Lucas.

“And we’re here,” he announced. They stood outside the stall. It has a line of about six people ordering the only thing in the menu, the famous flour-rice noodles topped with pig intestines.

Frankie liked the taste of pig intestines. It was a common street food in the Philippines but not so much in Japan. When she took a vacation in her mom’s native country, she indulged herself with fried, crispy pig intestines. Her mom asked her to not eat it so much because it causes cholesterol levels to go up.

Lucas was also a fan of pig intestines. Hong Kong’s street cuisine also has pig intestines on their menu. Lucas felt nostalgic just thinking about it.

They both ordered flour-rice noodles in regular size. The size turned out to be just right for them. Lucas put chili in his while Frankie dashed hers with some kind of a garlic sauce.

The noodles were steaming hot and it warmed their stomach. The food made them fight off the cold September weather.

“Delicious,” Lucas took another sip of the noodles. Mee suawas now becoming one of his favorite foods. “It is, pig intestines were a nice touch,” Frankie declared.

“I love the intestines too,” Lucas agreed. “And not many people like the taste. I think they are just denial because it is intestines,” he emphasized the word intestines as if it was gross. “Different strokes for different folks,” Frankie commented and blew some air in the noodles to make it okay for digesting.

“Do you want to find love in Taipei?” Lucas asked. Frankie almost spit out her food because of Lucas’ straightforwardness. Was Lucas going too fast with this? They just met recently and Frankie thought that Lucas was too physically attracted to her. Well, Frankie was also physically attracted to him. Lucas was too handsome.

Lucas did not say sorry for being too honest. It was his thing. Never mind if sometimes he can go a little insensitive, for him, he was just being honest, speaking his mind.

“Actually, not in my plans,” Frankie answered. Instead of his hope shattering, he felt even more determined to change that. “I mean we’re just here for a year, right? Why end it in heartbreak?” Frankie gulped the noodles and tossed the paper bowl into a nearby trash can, “why torture yourself?”

“But if you really want to, you can make it work,” Lucas was insistent and solid in his opinion. “I guess so,” Frankie only answered to make Lucas shut up. No matter what he said, he will not change her opinion in finding someone in Taipei. No matter how stunning he was, he cannot sway her.

“What if it’s me?” Lucas asked. He stared at the sky. The stars were twinkling and he kind of hoped her eyes would do the same. “Will you make an exception for me?” he turned his head to Frankie thinking of what she should say back. Frankie was not the blunt type of person. She was very careful on not angering or offending someone.

“Lucas,” she giggled. For her, it was the only way out of the situation. “The pig intestines’ poison got too much into you,” she stood up. “C’mon, let’s go back home,” she suggested, effectively avoiding the question.

Lucas smiled and nodded. He secretly wished she meant yes.


	3. (September;九月)

Loud music was pumping through the speakers. The different colors of lights were enough to cause seizures. The hall was now a melting pot of students coming all over the world.

It was TaiNu’s annual party for welcoming the international students. The party was always held at the last week of September. It was like the last rite of passage for the international students of TaiNu.

The residents of the fourteenth floor huddled close together in a table. Lucas was the only talking, his voice was drowned out by an EDM music. No one actually was comprehending or properly hearing what he was saying.

Despite the group being together, Taeyong and June were still away from each other. Unlike the first week, Jaehyun, Johnny, Lucas, and Frankie felt less tension between them. Though, June and Taeyong hadn’t talked to each other yet but the seas have become calmer.

The EDM song died out as it transitions into a song slower and cooler in tempo. “Hey guys, I’m going to meet my friends,” Lucas stood up and dusted his pants for remaining crumbs from the cookies. The group followed their eyes to where Lucas was going to. They spotted three men, all worthy of being called celebrities. They wondered if being good looking was part of TaiNu’s student acceptance standards. In this moment, the group had fully established that Lucas was the social butterfly of them six.

Lucas high-fived the three men, Canadian Mark Lee (but Korean in ethnicity), Chinese Dong Sicheng (but prefers to be called Winwin), and Japanese Yuta Nakamoto, in front of him. The four of them made a semi-circle. The three had drinks in hand, mocktails, Lucas thought. TaiNu wouldn’t allow students to get drunk, not in their premises.

“Cas, my man,” Mark slides Lucas a glass of mocktail. Mark was the only one that called Lucas as Cas, complete with this Canadian twang. “Drink up,” Mark ordered as if they weren’t the same age. “How was your first month so far?” Winwin interjected. Winwin’s drink wasn’t even sipped, even a little. Winwin was scared to admit that he didn’t trust mocktails and their capability to not get him drunk.

Lucas downed the mocktail in one go in Mark, Yuta, and Winwin’s amusement. “Pretty good,” he answered, feeling the mocktail in his throat. “Any chicks yet?” Yuta wiggled his eyebrows. Lucas felt the need to punch Yuta sometimes but he knew that Yuta was similar to his personality so punching Yuta was the same as punching himself.

“No, but I got my eye on someone. I told you, right?” Lucas eyed the three and they agreed. “Ah yes, the Frankie girl,” Mark sipped from his mocktail and searched for Frankie’s face. “I stalked her Instagram and she was pretty cute,” Winwin admitted, the others laughed. “She’s not just cute, she’s gorgeous,” Lucas smiled as he directed his gaze to Frankie, chatting with June.

Johnny was the second one to excuse himself as his eyes spotted his friend. He jogged towards the male standing by the buffet table.

Ten was alone, searching for someone to talk to and he kind of looked awkward doing it. He was obviously anxious but calmed down when he saw Johnny approaching towards him.

“I kinda look stupid,” Ten smiled and sighed, his Thai accent showing through his English. “If you say it like that,” Johnny spoke. “Why are you alone?” Johnny asked, standing behind him. He tried to search for a vacant table but failed. They would probably look like losers standing next to the buffet table.

“All of my friends have partners,” Ten confessed, looking at the dance floor. Ten’s friends were mostly South East Asians. South East Asians were close together just like East Asians. Johnny understood the Asian closeness as anywhere an Asian went, a typical Asian looked first for an Asian community, even better if they were from the same Asian region.

“Why? You wanna dance?” Johnny’s questions seemed endless. Ten shook his head. “You can dance with me, I’ll dance with you,” Johnny offered which made Ten laugh. “My classes are enough, thank you,” Ten rejected with a grin. Ten and Taeyong had been on the same ballet class.

“Don’t you have a partner?” Ten asked Johnny. He was looking for a face. “Ah, no, not really,” Johnny replied honestly. “None in your team? No crush to ask?” it was Ten’s time to bombard Johnny with questions and it was also Johnny’s time to shake his head, “they’re all nice but no, not yet.”

Ten’s eyes lit up. “Not yet? So there’s a possibility,” Ten nudged Johnny’s arms in a teasing manner. Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle at Ten’s comment. He decided to answer honestly, “there are always possibilities. Anywhere.”

“I’ll meet our fellow Koreans,” Jaehyun drank a glass of water and stood up. He wasn’t really feeling the mocktail. Jaehyun always preferred water over any drinks just like a good boy. He believed that water was good for his health instead of other beverages. He was strict and a perfectionist for himself like that. He never expected the less from his own.

He looked at Taeyong who obviously looked bored and would want nothing more than to go back home. “Wanna join, Taeyong?” he offered. Frankie elbowed him as a go signal. June could care less with being busy playing games in her phone. Of course, she was painfully avoiding her ex.  
With Frankie’s support, Taeyong agreed to join Jaehyun. He needed some Korean friends anyways. He noticed that Koreans stuck to other Koreans whenever overseas. As Taeyong had observed, native Koreans would highly prefer interacting with other Koreans compared to other races.

Jaehyun waved to a group of three who were sitting in a booth. Together, they both traversed the dance floor full of people. Arriving, they sat on the free space. Taeyong studied the three’s facial expressions. They, of course, looked curious on who he was.

“This is Taeyong Lee, he’s also from the 14th, and he’s also Korean,” Jaehyun introduced. Taeyong felt the need to show a small wave and nod. The three became more enthusiastic in learning that he was also Korean. Taeyong’s observation had strengthened further.

“Taeyong, this is Kim Se-jeong, Kim Dong-young, and Moon Taeil,” Jaehyun talked in Korean. Taeyong didn’t know if he would act like a typical Korean would or not. Se-jeong was pretty and has an innocent aura, Dong-young had a clean look on him and resembled a rabbit, and Taeil was warm and had a vibe of cluelessness. “Nice to meet you,” Taeyong greeted them in Korean.

“Taeyong-ssi, what are you majoring in?” Se-jeong asked, she seemed to be the most proactive of the three. Taeyong had a vibe like Se-jeong wanted to flirt with him but Jaehyun didn’t. “Classical ballet,” he answered. He was proud of what he’s studying in. Ballet was his first love.

“Wow, ballet, that’s good,” Dong-young said in fascination. He was glad that the three did not mock in his study choices. Jaehyun shot Taeyong a look that translates to ‘I told you they were good people’. If there is one thing that Jaehyun was annoyed at, it was people not putting their trust in him.

“We’re all majoring in International Business,” it was Taeil’s time to talk. “Seems like a popular major choice for Koreans,” Jaehyun joked, they all laughed, Taeyong only released a small smile.

Two girls sat in the fourteenth floor residents’ table with only June and Frankie in it. Frankie looked at them with a warm smile and her eyes seemed like she was greeting and welcoming them. June stared from her phone and said, “hi, how are you doing?” Luckily, it didn’t sound robotic or forced.

“I’m Zhou Jieqiong but you can call me Pinky,” the girl who looked like a Chinese actress extended her hand. “And I’m Sana Minatozaki,” the girl with the blonde hair that resembles Taeyong’s hair color also extended her hand. Frankie and June shook hands with them.

“You want to go out?” Sana spoke with hopeful eyes. “Where are we going?” June asked and put her phone inside her bag. “To the nearby club,” Pinky answered her. “Invite other friends too,” she winked.

Never mind that they just met each other, it was time to have fun. Frankie and June collected their friends and managed to tag Yuta along in their escape from the welcome party.

 

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Taiwan’s night life scene was chiller than expected. They all swore the night life in their respective countries were wilder than this. The chill night life in Taiwan was a positive for them all, maybe with the exception of Lucas who liked more noise and more people sticking bodies with each other. That boy had so much energy in him.

Sana and Yuta kept on drinking. Pinky wasn’t too much of a drinker compared to Sana and Yuta. Frankie never expected that her fellow Japanese would be big drinkers. Taeyong drank a shot of vodka, Lucas and Johnny both preferred a bottle of beer, Frankie and June ordered cocktails, and Jaehyun still stuck with water.

“C’mon, Jung-jung, drink some alcohol,” Yuta gulped a shot of tequila. It had been an hour now since they had arrived and Yuta hadn’t stopped convincing Jaehyun to drink some. Yuta had also invented a new nickname for Jaehyun in the process.

“No, thank you,” Jaehyun declined politely. He had lost count on how many times he had already declined Yuta.

Pinky pointed to her phone and quickly waved good bye. They just nodded farewell to her.

“Well, wow, she ditched us,” June drank her second cocktail. Taeyong had been worried for her but he won’t show it. June didn’t handle her liquor well.

“I’m heading out, too,” Taeyong was more than excited to go home. Lucas, Frankie, and Johnny also decided enough and left with him. They left June in Jaehyun’s care.

June and Jaehyun didn’t know that there was a long night ahead of them.

 

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“Hey guys, you head back in the dorm, I’m going to get some McDonald’s,” Frankie said, heading towards the opposite direction. Johnny shook his head, “no, Frankie. It’s not safe to be alone,” he searched agreement in the eyes of Lucas and Taeyong in which the two confirmed their agreement with a nod, “we’ll join you.”

Johnny, Lucas, Taeyong, and Frankie entered McDonald’s. The familiar scent of the famous fast food chain welcomed them. “I always make it a point to taste McDonald’s in every country I’ve been to,” Frankie opened as she fell in line. Three cashiers were open and the lines were not too long. A few minutes and the clock will strike 1 am.

“How many countries have you been to?” Lucas, who was behind her, questioned. “Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, and now Taiwan,” Frankie counted in her left hand, “five.” “That’s a lot,” Johnny commented. He was in the second cashier’s line. Taeyong shifted to Johnny’s line because Johnny was the next to have his order taken. The second cashier was faster, too.

“I haven’t been to many countries except from my home country which is the US and when I visited my relatives in Korea. Taiwan’s the third country I’ve arrived at” Johnny glanced at the menu even though his mind was made up on what he’s going to eat. “You?” he pointed at the quiet Taeyong behind him. “Korea,  Singapore, New York, and Paris,” the blonde coolly answered, saying cities instead of countries. “I haven’t been to the East Coast,” Johnny pertained to New York. Around the United States, he’d only been to Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and of course, his hometown of Chicago.

“What’s the East Coast?” Lucas was clearly confused.

Finally, it was Frankie and Johnny’s turn to order.

 

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Jaehyun was amazed that Sana and Yuta weren’t still drunk considering the volume of alcohol they amassed and digested. June was having some issues with reality and illusions the more she drank.

He didn’t succumb to Yuta’s pressure and was on his third glass of water. When he decides on something, it was hard to change his mind.

June rested her head on Jaehyun’s shoulders. She was borderline drunk. She wasn’t just tipsy anymore. Miraculously, June was still majorly aware of her surroundings.

“Can we go outside please?” June pleaded. Her hair was in complete shambles, brown strands blocking her pretty face. Despite the obstruction, Jaehyun can still make out her face clearly—her red-painted lips and tall, pointed noise. One could mistake her for being Chinese celebrity Dilraba Dilmurat’s clone.

He followed her wish and led her outside the club where it was quieter. The serene Taiwan air touched their skins and goosebump appeared on her arms. Jaehyun decided to take off his bomber jacket and place it on June’s shoulders.

“I miss Taeyong, so, so much,” June’s voice showed a sad emotion. Jaehyun figured out that June was leaning towards longing rather than anger. “I highly think he misses you, too,” Jaehyun consoled her. June continued on resting her head on Jaehyun’s broad shoulders.

“You think. The dipshit won’t even talk to me. He can’t let me explain,” June buried her face in her hands. A little more push and tears will be spilled. “Give him time,” Jaehyun answered. He was no love advisor nor was he June’s therapist. He can’t give her clear answers, he wasn’t an expert in solving a couple’s problem. 

“Bullshit,” if June had a drink in her disposition right now, she would probably gulp it hard, “that was two years ago. Isn’t that enough time?” Jaehyun was sure she crossed the line of being not too drunk to insanely drunk.

“You can’t really know how much time he needs,” Jaehyun became a counselor for a night. He felt June sigh. “I want him back. Bad,” she confessed.

June extracted her head from Jaehyun’s shoulders and faced him. Without thinking, she pressed her lips into Jaehyun’s lips. The young lad was surprised and taken aback. It felt wrong.

Thankfully, the kiss wasn’t long nor did it involve tongue. It was a three-second, austere kiss. Even though intoxicated, June quickly regained her senses and realized what she had done. Like Jaehyun, she did not feel good. It was not her proudest moment.

“Shit,” June covered her lips with her hand. “It shouldn’t have happened. I’m so sorry. If I could take it back, I would. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she kept on apologizing. “No, I’m sorry, too. I think it was my fault. I’m not being responsible enough, I’m sorry,” Jaehyun felt like he had failed himself. He was supposed to take care of her. This was the worst feeling.

“Can we please never talk about it again? Please? We should never mention it,” June stood up, she found it somehow difficult to regain balance, “Keep this locked away in a chest. It was a big, big mistake.” “It was,” Jaehyun also stood to help June walk. He began leading her inside the club again. “We need Sana and Yuta’s help to get us back home,” Jaehyun assisted June as they go back inside. Never had they felt so awkward in their entire life. June felt this will put a strain in her growing friendship with Jaehyun. Jaehyun already wanted to distance himself from June. June was bad news.


	4. (October;十月)

It had been a week since Jaehyun stopped talking to June. June admitted that she missed Jaehyun every breakfast. She and Jaehyun had spent their breakfast together for the first month and now she was positive that Jaehyun would never share a breakfast with her again. She blamed herself for making things super awkward.

If she hadn’t drunk too much, if she hadn’t looked at those beautiful, brown eyes of his, it wouldn’t had happened.

June proceeded to cook her egg. It was not scrambled this time. She decided to make sunny-side up. She had to try a new way of eating egg at some time and this was the time. June felt regret as the egg started to cook up. She hated runny yolks.

She felt the door opened, hairs raised on her arms. June hoped it was Jaehyun, ready to join her for breakfast, ready to talk to her, but she knew it was just wishful thinking. June transferred the cooked egg to her plate from the pan. The person who just came in still didn’t utter a word.

June got a fork, pulled out her chair, set down her plate, and finally ate. Taeyong was sitting across her with a blue shirt on and silk shorts. He did not look like he just woke up. Sensing the atmosphere, Taeyong stood up and pushes his chair back. June proceeded to take a bite of her toast.

He was near the door now and somewhere in June’s heart wanted him to stay. The urge was getting stronger and stronger. June closed her eyes and swallowed her pride. She wanted to make things right again.

“Stay,” she says. Her voice was solid, almost commanding. Taeyong decided to turn around and sit back on the chair. He was silent, not bothering to mention even a greeting.

June placed the fork on the plate. She swore the clink was too loud. Taeyong’s jaw was still tight, his protruding Adam’s apple went up and down. He was angry at her. After two years. It was given. They did not end in the friendliest terms.

“Can you just please talk to me?” Taeyong sensed that June’s voice was about to break. June crying was one of the worst views. Still, he promised himself he would not give in even if June cried.

Taeyong did not acknowledge June’s appeal. He kept on quiet. He was good at this. Somebody could give him an award for being emotionless. Taeyong checked the fridge, let out last night’s fried rice leftover, and preheated in the microwave.

“Please, Yong,” June was teary-eyed. She leaned her head back to prevent tears from spilling. Taeyong continued on being hard on emotions. He got the milk carton and poured some in his glass.

“You’re the one who’s supposed to talk,” he ultimately said something. It was good enough for June. She just wanted to hear him talk directly to her. She missed the sound of his voice in her ears.

June breathed heavily. She knew. He was searching for an explanation and she could not exactly give it to him now. Not right now. She was not ready.

She did not pursue him any further and instead ate her breakfast.

They continued to eat their meals in complete silence. It was too noiseless one can hear the light tapping of the wind in the window, the clanking of the utensils against the plates, the sound their clothes make when they shift positions.

June finished her eggs and toast and washed the dishes. She wanted to do it quickly but allowed her body to bask in the cold presence of Taeyong instead. She felt Taeyong’s eyes burn her back as she wiped her materials dry. She placed the things where they belong and walked towards the door.

“I’m sorry,” June let it out. She closed the door and finally left. Taeyong should feel victory over their cold war. But he was more heartbroken. Did she really not want to explain? Why was she acting like that? It was her fault they broke up after all, not his, that’s what he wanted to believe.

About a few minutes after June left, Taeyong thought he could eat breakfast by himself but Jaehyun let himself inside the common room.

Jaehyun could say he was a bit disappointed by his sight. He expected June instead of Taeyong. He thought he could finally talk to her and was ready to end his avoidance at her. Taeyong, not wanting to spend any time with Jaehyun, ate the last amount of his fried rice. He washed his dishes and left them on the sink but before he could leave, he decided to leave Jaehyun something. Some cryptic words of wisdom.

“She’ll choose none of us,” he declares and turns the knob, ready to leave.

Jaehyun continued drinking his glass of milk, somehow getting his point.

“Do you know something?” he puts down his glass and wipes his mouth free from white liquid.

Taeyong did not bother to turn his head to look at Jaehyun’s expression. “I know what happened last week,” he says and leaves.

Jaehyun felt guilty. If June blamed herself for what happened, he blamed himself, too. For him, it was partly his fault. He felt the need to say something to Taeyong. Breakfast can wait.

He chased Taeyong to his room, his bedroom slippers provided his feet a wave of warmth but it was not enough to tame his anxiousness. He wanted to roll himself in the texture of his bedroom slippers.

Jaehyun slams his fist into Taeyong’s door to get his attention. It was out of character from his firm and polite usual knocks. It worked and Taeyong opened the door.

“I have no feelings for June,” Jaehyun frankly proclaims. Taeyong just blinked his eyes. There was no telling what he felt about that. His looks were just as icy as his personality. When he was a kid, Taeyong learned to never wear your heart in your sleeves. He hated being vulnerable to others.

“I honestly don’t care,” Taeyong’s voice was stable and sure, “June’s my ex. You can date her if you want. I really don’t care,” with that he closed his door, not interested in what Jaehyun has to say back. Jaehyun just sighed in defeat and gave up. There was no way he could break Taeyong’s high walls.

 

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Chinese students outnumber any nationality in TaiNu’s international exchange program. Maybe it was the fact that TaiNu had many connections in China that gave way to this.

Lucas met another Chinese friend. His name was Qian Kun and he was majoring in voice. He went to his performance once and was amazed by his singing capabilities. Lucas wished he knew how to sing too but he didn’t have talent for it.

They met at TaiNu’s café. TaiNu’s café was run by culinary arts students of the university. It served as a training ground for them. The drinks were top-notch and the pastries were promising. Lucas kind of wished they served pasta, too.

“If you stop talking about Frankie, that would be great,” Kun kidded. Winwin laughed while sipping his tea, causing tiny bubbles to form. “She’s just so p—,” before Lucas can even finish his statement the two boys ended it for him, “perfect”. Winwin and Kun’s voices were in sync and formed a nice symphony.

“Well, she really is,” Lucas put his head in the palm of his right hand. “You have a big crush on her,” Winwin pointed out the obvious. “What an infatuation,” Kun shook his head, drinking his coffee.

Lucas tilted his head, he wanted to start daydreaming about her again as if he did not do it in his minor class earlier. Frankie was his perfect distraction. “I would like to ask her in a formal date someday,” Lucas breathed.

“Dude, you have to get to know her on a deeper level. All we heard from you is how gorgeous she was,” Kun gave another two cents of his. “Yeah, it’s been a month. We’re honestly surprised you haven’t spent so much time with her alone yet given how confident you are,” Winwin agreed with Kun’s sentiments.

“Let’s see. I’ll ask her tomorrow if she isn’t busy,” Lucas said. He had been busy projecting good personality traits in his projection of Frankie, his own version of Frankie, and he knew he can’t be disappointed.


	5. (October;十月)

Random chord progressions that came from a piano woke Frankie up. It was 7 in the morning and she was planning to spend the rest of her morning sleeping in her room. Studying was tough.

Whoever was playing the piano was toying with minor keys, if the twinkling of stars had a sound, that must be it.

She can’t help but follow from where the sound was coming from. Frankie ended standing outside Johnny’s room. He ended up playing Charlie Brown’s Christmas Time is Here. Frankie giggled as she figured Johnny gave up on experimenting chord progressions. The song reminded her of hot mint chocolate drinks, warm hugs, and snow on the window pane. She let herself lean on the door, close her eyes, and let the melody soothe her.

Johnny’s fingers glided upon the keyboard gracefully and very naturally as if he was born to play the piano. His father used to play the song every Christmas eve and it was his favorite seasonal song. It sounded so serene and not overly jolly.

Frankie let the two-minute piece finish first before knocking gently on his door. The TaiNu dorm system could really use a doorbell installed in every room but that was asking for too much.

“Hey,” Johnny said, his hair was going in different directions. He hadn’t expected anyone to meet today. Like Frankie, he planned the rest of his morning to lock himself in the room and try to make a new song.

Even with messy, just-woke-up hair, Johnny still looked handsome. He rubbed his eye to get a better view of Frankie who was also in her lounge wear; a pink hoodie and snuggly pajamas.

“Hey you, good morning,” Frankie smiled. Johnny internally panicked because he seemed to work out Frankie’s purpose of coming in. “Oh no,” he gently slammed his forehead, “I’m sorry. Did I wake you up? Should I lower the volume down?”

She shook her head. “You play beautiful music,” Frankie complimented, trying to take a peek of the piano keyboard behind him. “Oh thanks,” Johnny scratched his nape sheepishly. He tried hard not to be flustered. The only compliments he usually received were from his parents, his teachers, his friends, and random SoundCloud commenters. Not from someone like Frankie.

He was an aspiring, bona fide music producer but he wasn’t that comfortable or confident with letting his face show, his past piano recitals were an exception because he really couldn’t do anything to cover his face. He thought he could be another Marshmello or a member of Daft Punk. Johnny didn’t want his face to get in the way of fair judgment. Not that he thought he was extra good looking or whatever.

“Can I come in?” Frankie wanted to snoop around. She wanted to know what goes around a music producer’s room. “Uh,” Johnny glanced back at his room, for him, it wasn’t its cleanest state, “sure.” He made a way for Frankie to step in and analyze the surroundings.

It was not messy contrary to Johnny’s belief. The walls were painted a light shade of gray and emulated simplicity.

The keyboard was neatly standing near the corner of his room. There were other two machines with switches, sliders and knobs and a pad with a lot of colored squares next to it. His laptop was opened and showed a music production software. The Macbook was connected to one of the music machines and the keyboard. Two speakers were placed beside the table where the Macbook was placed. There was also a ukulele that was hanging in one of the four walls, a guitar was also placed on the foot of his bed. Johnny was a real music connoisseur.

Frankie thought it cost him a fortune to fly these out to Taipei.

“That are audio mixers,” he pointed to the two machines, “studio monitors,” he motioned to the speakers, “and this is a beat pad,” Johnny lightly patted the pad with colored squares. “Welcome to my studio,” he sat on his bed and admired his music equipment. His parents and him invested a lot on these.

“Cool,” Frankie commented and sat beside him. “I’m sorry if I disturbed your sleep.” He opened the topic once again. Frankie waved her hand in front her face as if saying ‘it’s not a big deal’. “I’m working on a five-track EP. It’s our main project. Deadline’s next year May but it defines our grades in a ridiculous way,” he let his body plop in his bed. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face on it. If the pillow can let him suffocate right now, he would let it.

“And I haven’t made a track yet. I’m out of inspirations. I can’t reuse my songs for it. It has to be a completely different concept,” his voice was muffled by the pillow. Frankie rested her hand on his knee, subtly giving him encouragement. She then spanked his thigh. She had the brightest idea.

“I have no classes today, let’s go find some inspiration,” she smiled. Johnny’s body jolted up. His ears perked with interest, “what do you mean?”

“Shower, get dressed,” Frankie stood up and put her hands in her waist. She felt like a commander, like she was taller than Johnny now. “We’re going to explore Taipei.”

 

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“Welcome to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.” Frankie spoke as if she had been here before or that she owned the park.

Songshan Cultural and Creative Park had less visitors than Huashan 1914 Creative Park. Whenever one searches, Huashan 1914 was the first to pop up instead of Songshan. Huashan 1914 was more popular than Songshan and that could explain why there weren’t so many people.

Frankie and Johnny strolled the cemented path. Some leaves were falling out of the trees. It looked like it came out from a Korean drama.

Johnny had an earphone on his left ear but he wasn’t playing any music. He was just feeling too lazy to remove it and put it in his pocket. Johnny was dressed in his mustard Comme des Garçons crew-neck sweater and regular fitted jeans which was rolled twice in both of the bottom leg of his pants, showing his Nike socks and black Vans. You would believe he came out of a Pinterest board. Frankie was wearing a black oversized graphic shirt that seemed like a mini-dress on her. She matched it with a striped, long-sleeved, black and white turtleneck underneath the oversized shirt. She also wore knee-high black socks and red, low-cut Chuck Taylor shoes. Her hair was up in a somewhat messy, high ponytail. She looked cute and comfy.

“Okay,” Frankie breathed, “where do you want to go?”

“Taiwan Design Museum looks nice,” Johnny stopped in front of a building, “or we could go to the paid exhibitions over there,” he turned back his head to get a glance of view behind.

“You? What do you want?” Frankie asked. She crossed her fingers and hoped Johnny chooses the exhibition.

Johnny wanted to try looking in Frankie’s eyes for an answer. He wanted to choose the one that she would prefer. But of course, he was too shy to even attempt what he planned. He decided to go for a random choice because he knew whatever they end up with, they’ll have fun anyway.

“The exhibition,” Johnny proclaimed. The photo exhibition was for a limited time only and they can visit the design museum anytime. He thought that the photos can provoke an inner inspiration in him that can drive him into making a good song.

They went to a booth and paid for tickets. Upon entering the location of the exhibition which looked like an old warehouse, they learned that the exhibition was by a local Taiwanese photographer and that it featured photos of couples in scenic moments all taken in Taiwan.

Johnny and Frankie read each description of the photos to better understand it. The photographer had interviewed every couple that was captured in the photos. Johnny felt that Frankie should had come with Lucas instead of him. After all, Lucas liked her a lot and Frankie possibly reciprocated the feelings, too.

Frankie was forming doubts inside her head. Was Johnny feeling awkward viewing these kinds of photos with romantic themes with her? She hoped that Johnny wasn’t wishing he was Lucas right now just to make her happy. Frankie’s job today was to bring Johnny an inspiration for his track.

“You know, we could leave if we want to,” Frankie offered. Johnny kept on moving from one picture to another. The photographer had real skills. You could really feel the love radiating from the printed pictures.

“No,” he checked the photo for details. The woman in the photo was wearing a coat that looked like it came from the men’s section. The coat was possibly from her boyfriend. The man had a big smile on his face. It was obvious that he was freezing but he was okay with seeing his girlfriend warm. “This is nice, Frankie.”

“You think so?” Frankie moved closer to him and stared at the same photo. Happiness was painted in the couple’s faces. “Yeah,” Johnny answered softly.

“So, a love song, huh?” she nudged him with her elbows. If they were looking at these photos, love song was a definite inspiration.

Johnny stole a quick glance at Frankie. She was wearing minimal make-up but even so, her beauty shined through. He never noticed how those two beauty marks completed her face so well. If Frankie decides Lucas will be her boyfriend, Lucas might be the luckiest damn guy on earth.

“Let’s see,” he answered and smiled at her. Frankie felt her heart do a flip-flop upon seeing his smile but she wasn’t sure. She doesn’t have many tall, good looking friends back home, maybe that was it. She just wasn’t used to it.

 

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The view in the observation deck was breathtaking. Johnny felt like he was viewing ants in an ant farm. Frankie was closely beside him, taking pictures with her phone. He glanced over her shoulder to take a peek on what she was doing.

In a minute, she had adjusted brightness levels in the picture and had posted it on her Instagram account. He took notice of her Instagram username. “At Frankienstein, how clever,” he chuckled. “What can I say? I’m a pun legend,” Frankie put her phone back in her small, leather backpack.

“You know what Taipei 101 is missing?” he sat on the bench provided. It was a weekday. He thanked God that the place wasn’t so crowded. “Hmm, what?” she sat beside him. It seemed like whatever he’ll do, she’ll do, too.  
“A kind of a floor tilt ride like the one in Hancock,” he talked about the new ride in a skyscraper in Chicago. “It’s called Tilt and it offers thrill and views and the ride goes on like this,” Johnny demonstrated how the ride functions with his right hand. It earned a laugh from Frankie. “Dork,” she snorted.

He raised his eyebrow and showed a little grin. “What did you say?”

Frankie moved her face closer to Johnny. She prayed to the gods she wasn’t blushing right now. She could study every tiny, little detail in his face and those details were gorgeous.

“That I’m a dork?” Johnny joked in his voice almost in a whisper. Frankie swore she felt Johnny’s hot breath on her cheeks. She smiled at Johnny half-acknowledging that he was indeed, a dork.

Earlier, Johnny wanted to look at Frankie’s eyes and now he did it without an excuse. It was a clear brown like the tree trunk in his house. It reminded him of his childhood. It was also warm and cold at the same time. It was beautiful.

Johnny grew more and more comfortable with Frankie as the time passes. He wasn’t someone who warms up to people fast. Frankie, on the other hand, was very laidback and welcoming. She was friendly but not in an annoying way. Someone could crown her Ms. Congeniality.

“Yes, you are, dork,” Frankie assured.

Johnny backed away his face, nervous and wondering what he could have done if the staring contest lasted a little longer. Lucas would absolutely kill him.

Besides, he has no game on Lucas. Lucas looked like a model, he looked like an average person. Lucas was straightforward and confident and unafraid. Lucas was everything he’s not. Also, he wasn’t even sure if he has a crush on Frankie. What they felt was definitely because of the heat of the moment.

“Hey,” he breathed. The sun was starting to set in Taipei.

“Hmm?” Frankie glanced back at him. His side profile was amazing and too bad he doesn’t even know it.

“I think I feel a song coming up. Or at least an intro.”

“That’s good. It worked.”

Frankie absolutely felt a sense of heat coming up to her cheeks. She hated that she blushes so easily. It never worked in her favor. Her head sided the other way for Johnny to avoid seeing it.  
Then she saw someone.

It was her fellow South East Asian, Ten.

Ten was with a guy, she assumed was a Taiwan native, and they were holding hands. Ten was laughing, looking so careless and contented. There were no people judging them. They were happy.

Frankie glanced back at Johnny, contemplating whether she should tell him what he saw. But it was too late. Johnny was staring back at Ten and Ten was staring back at him.

The air grew tense. There was an unwritten tension. Ten and his partner went towards Frankie and Johnny’s spot. Frankie figured that Ten just wanted to explain.

“Can you two please meet me in the dorm rooftop at 11 pm?” Ten cleared his throat. His voice shook. He wasn’t the only one nervous about this.

“Sure,” Frankie and Johnny both smiled, still unsure of what he was going to do. Was Ten going to confess? Was Ten going to tell them to scurry off? There were tons of possibilities but they stayed hopeful.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The elevator ride to the top was silent. Frankie wished she saw the mini-space show on the elevator ceiling similar to the ones in Taipei 101. But what she witnessed was Johnny thinking, gazing into an empty space.

“Johnny,” she called him. Johnny remained unmoved but Frankie noticed he heard her. “What’s bugging you?” she inquired.

“I’m just worried about Ten, that’s all,” he confessed. In a month they had all been together, the four boys’ emotional disposition were all so clear. Jaehyun doesn’t let his guard down easily and acted so serious. Taeyong doesn’t show emotions at all, his heart was ice cold and hard. Lucas wore his heart on his sleeve too much. And Johnny was shy but warms up in time.

“It’s gonna be okay.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it. She had seen Johnny and Ten’s closeness. 

The elevator dinged on the fifteenth floor. Frankie and Johnny stepped out and took the stairs to the rooftop.

Upon arriving, they saw Ten sitting on one of the wooden benches placed within the different sections of the rooftop. He was hugging a blue throw pillow. They noticed that the rooftop looked eco-friendly with a mini-garden on the side. There were also fairy lights surrounding the rooftop making the place well-illuminated. There was a small wooden coffee table and a rather elongated dining table, also in wood. The view was breathtaking, as usual.

“Ten,” Johnny greeted.

“Johnny,” Ten acknowledged, “Frankie.”

“What’s the fuss?” Johnny sat beside his friend. Frankie remained standing. The Taipei air was cold tonight. 

“You had seen me with a man earlier, right?” Ten gulped. He closed his eyes. It was not easy admitting it on himself. He never wanted Johnny, the closest friend he made so far, to find out like this. He was finding time to say it to him but it was never a walk in the park. Up to this day, he can’t still accept it that he had feelings like that. Nobody knew he was this. ThisTen.

“Yeah, so, what’s wrong with it?” Johnny asked. He wished he had a beer on his hand right now. He had this gut feeling he knew what Ten was going to say. It was pretty obvious. He just wished Ten had been more honest with him. But who was he to blame Ten? He figured Ten needed more time. This wasn’t a matter of trust.

“What’s wrong with it?” Ten echoed Johnny’s statement. “People had been judging me based on what they see about it. People like me are hard to be accepted,” he sighed. “I’m gay, Johnny, I think I might be gay.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with it,” Johnny stood his point.

“It’s hard to tell you because,” Ten sighed for the second time. It was his coping mechanism on trying not to cry. “Because, I don’t even know if I should admit this to myself. I can’t even accept myself sometimes. My parents do not know about this. My sister does not know about this. My friends are clueless. I’m also confused,” he confessed. He breathed hard. He felt vulnerable but weight had been removed from his shoulders.

“I am not afraid that when you’ll know it, you’ll leave me. I know you are not that kind of person,” he rested his head on Johnny’s shoulders. Johnny ruffled Ten’s hair, Frankie tilted her head at how adorable was her sight.

“But I’m not ready to come out yet,” he pursed his lips. “No one’s pressuring you to. Take your time,” Johnny smiled at him.

“I’ll fight them nasty people for you. All those who tell you are wrong with what you feel,” Frankie warmly stated.

“But just know,” he removed himself from Johnny, “even though I like boys,” Ten was starting to laugh, “I have no crush on you.”  
The three laughed at Ten’s sudden confession. “You are cute though and I admit that I thought about having a crush on you but it’s just not it,” Ten’s focus shifted to Frankie, “ah, maybe you belong to someone.”

Frankie looked at Johnny and tried not to stifle a laugh. “Me? Her? Nah, she has someone,” Johnny shrugged, chuckling.

“Oh, God’s sculpture from Thailand and Hong Kong Lucas Wong?” Ten’s eyes lit up. “That boy is delicious.”

Lucas was pretty popular among the international students and also local students alike. He had been capturing eyes and hearts left and right. But in Lucas’ eyes, none of them were Frankie so they weren’t important to him.

Johnny lightly hit Ten’s shoulders. “Eww, don’t talk about him like that. He’s my friend, too.”

“What? As if I was lying,” Ten crossed his arms in front of his chest and turned his gaze back to Frankie, “Girl, you are lucky Mr. Wong has his eyes on you, but you’re still not together, no? There’s a chance,” he winked. Frankie and Johnny just laughed and shrugged Ten’s comment off. There was no way they could be together.

The laughter died out and Ten felt the silence to be a happy one. He had laid his heart out. He was grateful for people like Johnny and Frankie who understood; his allies.

Johnny hugged Ten. “Just so you know, I’ll always be here for you.”

Ten hugged him back. Johnny’s hugs were always warm and pleasant.

“Frankie, come here, it should be a group hug,” he requested. Frankie accepted the invitation with a smile.

In the cold weather of Taipei, there was warmth in TaiNu’s international dormitory rooftop.


	6. (October;十月)

The strokes of pens can be heard throughout the room. It also smelled like coffee, papers, and books.

June and Frankie were busy studying, June with her machine designs in a blueprint and Frankie with her literature. Two women studying very different topics.

“I heard you went out with Mr. Chicago.” June got her pencil. She stroked two lines. June was sure of her design’s mechanism. She was almost done, a few trimmings and it will be perfect.

“Oh, he’s stuck with something. I just helped him out.” Frankie tapped the end stick of her pen, placed the pen beside the book, grabbed her pink highlighter and highlighted a whole paragraph. She can’t seem to pick a sentence that was important because everything seemed vital.

She took a sip of a strong coffee. “Uh,” June smiled, “we all know where it leads.” She erased some lines. “You got the two tallest males in here whipped.” June only want a certain someone wrapped around her finger and that damned blonde guy won’t even talk to her.

“June,” Frankie laughed, “I told you. Johnny’s just a friend. We’re not leading to something.” Frankie was not lying. It was clear what she was feeling. Besides, she was not fully ready in the idea of having a boyfriend. The closest thing she had to a boyfriend was the cute Japanese-American classmate she had in high school. He was handsome and was biracial like her. He had black Asian hair from his mother and ocean blue eyes from his father. They never materialized as a couple because she was too afraid. She actually was pissed of herself for a month, letting go of a man like him.

“Well, you got Lucas as a romantic interest,” June winked. Frankie felt like someone punched her. She wanted to stick to her plan. No boyfriends in Taipei.

“I don’t know. I told you I’m not looking for someone romantically. I’m only here for the exchange,” Frankie shrugged. There was no time for romance. She was here to study and study she will do.

“C’mon, Miyashiro!” June raised her blueprint in admiration. A week’s worth of hard labor was finally done. She can’t wait to present it to her professor. She remembered the times when she would show Taeyong her blueprints for machines and Taeyong truly appreciated her work. Good times. “Don’t restrict yourself too much, allow yourself to breathe. Just let it be”

“Go figure for a three-sentenced advice,” Frankie kidded. She picked up the highlighter again. Somewhere inside her mind told her to highlight the whole page but of course, she wouldn’t do that. It’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?  
She put down the highlighter. It was just two sentences. Thank God. “I don’t want my stay to end in heartbreak and tears, June.”

“It would, if you let it end like that,” June rolled her blueprint. She felt like a cartographer rather than a student of mechanical engineering. “You have a choice in how to end it. It’s all on you.”

“I hate to say it but you do have a point,” Frankie lifted her head to smile at June. June was a sheltered child by her parents but she was knowledgeable about things. She may not know how to cook, but she sure knew how to give advice with regards to life. She was a sage living in her air-conditioned bedroom.

“What’s happened to you and Taeyong, though? If you don’t mind me prying, of course,” Frankie took a sip of her coffee. Her coffee was vastly unlike June’s black coffee. Frankie liked her coffee with lots of creamer or milk and honey instead of sugar.

June cleared her throat. It was two years ago but the pain was still there. It was the worst night of her life. It was the worst decision she’d ever made. It was the worst cry she’d ever had. It was the worst all. Period.

“I’ll tell you when I’m ready. But not now, I’m still hung up on what happened,” June smiled a sad one. She gulped the black coffee like it was alcohol. Frankie nodded, “it’s okay, June. I understand.”

“One day, I’ll really tell you. I promise.” She wiped her mouth with her handkerchief sitting on the table. June was very ladylike and that’s one thing that Frankie admired about her. June was refined and oozing with finesse. She was the type Frankie’s mother would be truly proud of. Frankie, on the other hand, was a little more rascal.

“Okay,” Frankie simply nodded. You can’t force people to talk about sensitive topics, you have to wait for them to open up.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

“Hey, Jaehyun,” Johnny stood up from his sitting position. He pushed the chair back to its place. He had already gathered his books and other things. He combed back his fluffy hair with his free hand. “I’m gonna get going. Gotta tweak a song in the studio.” Johnny was talking about the TaiNu studio for music production students. The university had installed three studios for the use of music students only and Johnny found it so convenient.

“Sure,” Jaehyun nodded, not even glancing up to see Johnny go, he did however, caught a sight of the pretty girl next to their table on his peripheral view.

When Johnny finally left, he decided to have a good look at the girl.

Books were scattered all around her table. Her drink was in a tall, to-go paper cup. Strands of hair were falling over her face but she was still focused in her textbook. Jaehyun thought the highlighter overpowered the smell of pastries and coffee inside the TaiNu café.

Jaehyun had developed a habit at studying in the TaiNu café at 6 pm every night. Also, in every night that he studied in the café, the girl was there, sipping her drink, sometimes eating cronuts or a buttered croissant, studying, too. Jaehyun figured they had the same study time and the same location. 6 pm was the best time to study for him, the transition from afternoon to night. Maybe for her, too.

The girl caught back his stare and instead of ignoring it, she smiled at him. She had the best smile Jaehyun had ever seen, so genuine yet so subtle and kind. It was not flashy or exaggerated. It was just right.

Jaehyun waved at her. He thought that she took notice of him, too. After all, she was the first to study here in the café. He only started reviewing here last week.

The girl motioned at Jaehyun to come to her table. Jaehyun did as he was told to.

He sat on the free chair opposite to the girl. She was even prettier up close. She had big brown eyes, thick lashes, and pink, supple lips. She looked like a heroine of a manga.

“Hi, what’s your name? I noticed you studying beside my table last week,” she stated her observation. “I’m Jaehyun Jung and yes, I thought you had noticed. You also study here every 6 pm. What a coincidence,” Jaehyun lent out his hand for the girl to shake it. Classic Jaehyun. Always so polite.

“I’m Nina. Nina Tien.” Nina shook back Jaehyun’s hands. He felt her soft hands enveloped his palms. Then she let go.

“What’s your major?” she asked and rested her head in her hand.

“I’m taking up International Business. You?”

“European Studies. Where are you from? Your last name didn’t sound Taiwanese.”

“I’m from Korea. You’re from here, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, I’m Taiwanese. I’m a local. Not really exciting,” she giggled at her last part, hinting it was a joke. Jaehyun grinned at her remark. “Being an international student, isn’t really that exciting, you know,” he meant that as a gag too.

She took another sip from her paper cup. There were lipstick stains around the small hole on the cup.  
“Do you want to share tables so the café can accommodate more students? So, it doesn’t look like we’re hogging all the tables, you know what I mean? Besides, we study at the same time?” Jaehyun offered. “Sure, of course,” Nina agreed. His rather straightforward offer reminded him of Lucas.

“Should we exchange numbers?” she asked and looked directly into his eyes, searching for another agreement. Jaehyun pursed his lips and nodded. He brought out his phone from his pocket and flashed Nina his number. Nina jotted down Jaehyun’s number on her textbook. He handled his phone and typed in her number. “It’s saved as Nina,” she gave back his phone.

“I should leave you to study.” The books were European literature books. The one book that wasn’t European literature is a French to English translation guide.

“Do you want to start sharing now?” she asked as he was about to stand up. “No problem,” he casted her a smile. This was a start of a great partnership.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The double doors that was in Lucas’ direction of walking always intrigued him. He learned that it was a large theater where the theater students, the classical music students, and the dance students practiced but most of the time, it was empty, waiting for performers and audiences.

Lucas checked around for people in his surroundings. He was going to snoop in. The curiosity was eating him up alive and he couldn’t let it pass.

The double doors were made of oak and had an intricate design. He had let his fingertips touch the flowers sculpted in the door. The craftsmanship was marvelous.

He exerted effort to push the doors. Lucas had a thing for dramatic flair and he thought no one was going to witness what he did anyways.

Until he saw Taeyong dancing ever so gracefully on the stage.

Classical music was heard from the stereo placed on the stage. The melody of the piano is minute and played in minor. Taeyong did his twists, jumps, and turns with talent. He was simply born to be a ballerino.

Lucas went closer and closer to the stage, finally settling into a seat from the third row. Taeyong took notice of his presence but being a professional even though Lucas was his only audience, he kept dancing and dancing.

The music ended. Taeyong made his final pose. He took a bow and imagined people throwing roses at him; all their claps and cheers just for him. His audience in awe and stands to give a much-appreciated applause.

Lucas did it. If Lucas had a rose in hand, he would probably also throw it on stage. Taeyong’s only audience stood up and clapped. Taeyong release a small smile from his lips. It felt good to be admired on what you were passionate about.

He jogged his way out of the stage and into Lucas’ seat. Lucas’ gaze followed Taeyong’s movement. Lucas thought if he were the one to wear leotards and leggings, he’ll look ugly but Taeyong suited the ballerino outfit so much. He stared down on what he was wearing now, dim gray shirt tucked in by his thin, black belt in his dark denim jeans and white shoes on his feet.

“What brings you here?” sweat was dripping from the tips of Taeyong’s blonde hair. He wiped those off from his forehead using his hand.

“I was just curious. I didn’t know you were here,” Lucas answered, slumping comfortably in his seat. Taeyong sat down next to him.

“I know you are good in ballet,” he brought his glance to Taeyong, “but I never thought you were that good. Your performance is amazing and I’m not saying this just because we are friends.” Taeyong looked back at Lucas. Friends. They were friends. Not many people consider Taeyong as a friend.

“Thank you,” Taeyong gave a small nod. “A lot of my friends haven’t seen me dance.” For the record, he doesn’t have a lot friends. People often found his personality not very friendly at the best, repulsive at the worst.

“Well, they should. They’re missing out on something,” Lucas showed his big, goofy grin. “Some of my friends even dumped me because I do ballet. They said it wasn’t masculine and doesn’t suit me. They don’t want to be associated with some guy doing feminine things,” Taeyong opened.

“What?” Lucas jolted himself up. He was surprised but he did not need to show so much actions. He was that extra. “They aren’t call friends, you don’t need friends like that! Being a ballerino does not invalidate your masculinity! Hell, you’re more masculine than I am! They are close-minded brats, that’s for sure.” Lucas flung his arms in the air.

Taeyong was certainly entertained by Lucas’ act but he was touched by his statement. “So,” he gulped. He was a shy about what he was going to say. Taeyong was never the straightforward one nor does he show a broad range of emotions in his face. “You consider me as your friend?”

“Of course, dude,” Lucas patted Taeyong’s back hard that made Taeyong feel like a hundred tons was slamming his back. “You are my friend. Am I your friend?” Lucas asked back.

“If you put it that way, yes,” Taeyong replied. Lucas was elated. He felt that we finally melted a portion of his icy interior.

“If we are now friends, can I ask you something?” Lucas sank bank in his seat. For a minute, he forgot about this specific problem that kept on bugging him.

“Yes, what is it?” Taeyong sounded like a dad.

“How do you properly ask a girl out?” Lucas slowly said like it would register to Taeyong’s mind completely that way. “I mean, well, you clearly have some experience in that department. And no kidding, I have too. And I think you had way more serious relationships than I had. I have two exes already but you know, I really, really, really like Frankie and I don’t want to mess this up.” He blabbered. Taeyong didn’t need to know he already had two exes. He was also surprised that given how upfront and confident Lucas was, here he was, asking an advice from him. Maybe Lucas doesn’t really want to mess up his chance.

“Ask her what kind of date she would like. Be forward about it,” Taeyong gave his honest thought.

Lucas exhaled. “I think I could do that,” he shifted in his seat, “thank you.”

"You're welcome." 


	7. (October;十月)

A knock came from Frankie’s door. She hadn’t been expecting anyone nor ordered any delivery but then an idea crossed her mind and maybe someone wanted some help. It could be June needing help for her History class.

The door revealed ‘the Hong Kong and Thai god’ in Ten’s words. Lucas was in front of her in the flesh and he was beaming this cute, closed-lipped grin of his.

“Hey,” his voice sounded extra low in Frankie’s ears but his delivery was in his usual cheery tone. “Hey,” Frankie greeted back. Her knees were wobbly. Damn, Ten was so right in Lucas being a god.

“I know I might be going too fast but,” he went to his side and cleared his throat. Frankie thought it was to create an air of suspense. “Let’s date?” his smile was cheeky and sexy at the same time.

June’s words echoed in Frankie’s head. She had nothing left to lose. All she had to do was to give it a try.

“Sure, let’s date,” she smiled back at him. She nibbled on her lower lip as she was a teeny bit nervous. Her heart was doing somersaults and there was no way to stop it.

“Tell me your ideal date then,” typical Lucas. Confident and somewhat commanding.

“I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about that,” Frankie kept on subtly tip-toeing like it was the only way to keep her sane and balanced. She wanted to crash in Lucas’ arms and smell him. She scrapped the thought. That sounded creepy.

“Any ideas?” she pushed the question back to him. Lucas spent two hours googling and reading articles from Cosmopolitan and other magazines catered for women and he had come to a conclusion. He was ready.

“I will take you to a restaurant, a gourmet one, then we could get some coffee and play claw machines along the way,” he winked at her. Frankie felt her heart beat faster. If Lucas was a celebrity, he’d be damn good at his job.

“Hmm, that’s nice,” Frankie’s voice was almost like a whisper, she tried hard not to squeal. She felt her cheeks starting to blush and her ears starting to turn red. And they weren’t doing anything dirty. Lucas was just good at making her blush. No one ever made her blush like this.

Lucas noticed her cheeks started to flush a mixture of pink and red. “Oh, so you’ll like it then?” he touched Frankie’s hair. You wouldn’t know that Lucas was a year younger than Frankie based on what he was doing. 

“I’m fine with anything, really,” she said and waved her hands. “Tomorrow at 6. I don’t have to tell you to dress nice because you seriously look good in anything you wear,” he smiled. Frankie blushed even harder, she felt her cheeks so warm and put both of her hands to cup her cheeks.

“Why are you making me blush like this? I hate it,” she said and looked up to meet Lucas’ face. “Ah, so cute,” he pinched a small portion of Frankie’s hand-covered cheeks. “You probably make girls blush like it’s a normal thing for you,” she pouted. “I know I’m handsome, alright?” he winked again. Frankie was conflicted whether to kiss his cheeks or to smack his head hard.

“Brag again or this date will never happen,” she threatened but it was a joke. Frankie just liked to see him crack. Lucas chuckled. “Frankie,” he exhaled and tucked in a strand of her hair. “Tomorrow at 6. Don’t forget.”

“Yup,” Frankie shortly answered and closed her door softly when Lucas left. Her mind shifted towards food. What kind of food will they be eating tomorrow?

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

“I need detergent.” That were Taeyong’s first words to Johnny when Johnny opened the door. Johnny chuckled as that reminded him of their first week in the dorm. “Wait a second.” He got a box of detergent in his bathroom and handed it to Taeyong.

“You can use how much you want,” he said. Taeyong just stood there, reading the labels on the box. His eyes scanned the big Chinese letters, the letters glared at him angrily. He didn’t understand what the labels meant.

“Do you want me to join you in the laundry area?” Johnny offered. “Some help would be great,” Taeyong nodded. He closed the door behind his back and followed Taeyong towards the common room.

His clothes were already loaded in the washing machine. Johnny detected that it was not ballet clothes, it was his every day clothes including lounge wear and clothes for going out. Taeyong opened the box and added the detergent to the drum of the machine. He then operated the settings and the machine finally started spinning.

The two were silent and watched the machine spin around. They were both sitting on the floor, directly in front of the machine. Johnny was wearing socks and Taeyong was wearing slippers. Johnny thought if Taeyong’s feet was getting cold.

“How is living in Chicago?” Taeyong asked, his back rested on the dryer. “It’s generally good. It’s nice. I was born there so I can’t really compare living here and there,” Johnny folded his knees closer to his chest. “I never really felt so distinctively foreign from my friends. My parents only taught me little Korean so my Korean isn’t fluent. I suck at it. People are nice towards me, of course, there are some people who’ll give you looks because you don’t look too American, but for me, I was born there. My passport is from the United States. I speak English. That makes me American, doesn’t it?”

“Living anywhere is fun and hard at the same time,” Taeyong replied. He felt Johnny’s plight. There was a time when he studied overseas when he was young and felt like he didn’t belong there. He wanted to go back to Korea so bad but he adjusted and stayed strong.

“How did you learn to speak English if you don’t mind me asking?” Johnny hugged his knees closer. The machine stopped spinning for a minute and resumed a moment after. Foams from the soap were starting to form.

“I studied in Singapore and New York for years. I enrolled myself in a language school in those countries and even when I’m in Korea, I study English.” Taeyong remembered those years when he couldn’t understand a sentence in English and studying the sentence structure and grammar was hell for him.

“You’re a pro in study abroad programs, huh?” Johnny kidded.

“Ballet requirement,” Taeyong simply answered.

The washing machine stopped. Taeyong stood up and opened the machine door. Johnny stood beside him and helped him shake his garments one by one before loading it into the dryer. After loading his clothes, Taeyong fixed the settings once again and put a fabric softener sheet. The clothes dryer stared to do its work.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

 _Ding._

The elevator doors opened. June’s body stiffened as Jaehyun entered the lift. He managed to look chic in his brown trench coat. Jaehyun also took note of June’s neutral-colored fall outfit.

Jaehyun had been visiting friends from the fourth floor. Dong-young and Taeil were both from the fourth floor and they ate some Korean snacks in the fourth floor’s common room and had a good time.

June just came from her class. Arriving at the lobby of the dorm, she started mentally cursing all of her homework. She just wanted to catch up on her favorite shows and pamper herself by soaking for a long time in the bathtub. She had bought a bath bomb last week and was excited to use it.

“I’m sorry I haven’t joined you for breakfast these days.” Jaehyun broke the silence. The elevator continued on its ascent to fourteenth floor. “It’s okay.” June looked at the number and the up-arrow sign flashed on the screen.

“I’m really sorry too for what happened. I know we agreed to never talk about it but that was low of me, I sincerely apologize for that kiss. That was unacceptable of my actions,” June pursed her lips and hung her head low. “Don’t worry. It’s all in the past. Promise me you won’t avoid me anymore and we’ll act less awkward to each other,” Jaehyun glanced at her. June was tall but Jaehyun towered her.

“Okay, I appreciate that,” June nodded.

They were almost near the fourteenth floor when Jaehyun spoke again. “Taeyong knows about the kiss.”

June doesn’t reply nor does she react. But inside her mind, a thousand thoughts and questions filled her head. Is Taeyong mad? What did Taeyong feel? Is he hurt? How did he know? Why didn’t he talk to me?

“I think Taeyong still has feelings for you,” Jaehyun smiled. The smile didn’t gloss over the feelings of mocking or anything negative. Jaehyun had sincere intentions when he told her that.

The elevator doors rang once again and opened. June exhaled. She didn’t have to answer, Jaehyun knew how she felt. He only tapped her twice lightly in the back before they go to their separate rooms.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

There were only sixty tables in the restaurant and Frankie heard the waiting list for a reservation in the restaurant counts up to thousands per day. Reservation was arduous and was done through an online booking system. Lucas was quite lucky to secure a reservation. The price of the food was not very cheap but the atmosphere and the food itself gave back what you paid for.

The vibe was very intimate. The restaurant was decked with Scandinavian interior and the bar made from Taiwanese pine was simply stunning. Frankie mentally praised herself for picking out a versatile outfit with her spaghetti strap lace dress and an oversized denim jacket that was worn just all the way up to her elbows. Her trusty red Converse complemented the outfit.

Lucas looked dashing himself with a striped, short-sleeved, green and white satin button-down that had two buttons undone on the top half. It provided a small peek of his chest which Frankie thought was well-defined. Lucas liked working out, after all. He matched it with simple black slacks and his usual white sneakers.

“You like it here?” Lucas tilted his head. Frankie just kept looking at the restaurant’s interiors. “I love it here,” she said excitedly. “It’s so pretty, everything’s so pretty,” she continued on gushing. The wall décor of connecting pipes with red neon lights especially got her.

“You’re prettier,” he flirted. Lucas rested his chin in his hand. Frankie admired the décors and Lucas was admiring her. Frankie’s presence was enough to fill his stomach with butterflies.

Frankie scoffed and stifled in a giggle. “You’re not too bad yourself. You clean up well,” she complimented him back. Lucas leaned in closer to her. “I want to hear that I’m handsome,” he winked. Frankie rolled her eyes in mockery and finally released a laugh that sounded music to Lucas’ ears.

“You’ll probably hear that when I had done stuffing myself with food and my appetite is satisfied,” she smiled. “Oh, you would,” Lucas had stated as if it was a challenge. Lucas just melted her.

The first course arrived at it was a sweet treat. It started off very promising and delicious.

“How much does it cost to eat here?” Frankie forgot to ask Lucas how would they pay. She didn’t want him to pay alone for a ten-course meal. Frankie wanted for them to split the bill.

“This tasting menu is around 1,850 New Taiwan Dollars, including the drinks and other charges, I think it will round up to 4,000?” Lucas did his calculations right. He researched this restaurant before reserving. He made sure he can afford it with his allowance.

“Lucas! That’s pricey!” Frankie sounded more like a scolding mom than a potential girlfriend. Frankie now was more than willing to share half of the burden of the payment.

“If it’s you I’m eating with, I’m alright,” Lucas shrugged and dug in with the last bite of the meal. Frankie shook her head. They were just students and they don’t have any jobs yet. She felt guilty but at the same time she felt flattered, Lucas was ready to spend his allowance on her. That’s how much he liked her.

“Lucas, let’s split the bill. I don’t want you to pay for all of this. I’m feeling really guilty right now.” Frankie felt her shoulders slump a little.

“It’s okay, I got this.”

“Lucas, don’t be stubborn. I’m older than you and this is an order.”

“Pft, a year older than me.”

“Still, it’s a year.”

“I’m taller than you.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“I look older than you.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Lucas. Don’t be stubborn. I’ll pay the half.”

“No.”

“I’m paying half or you don’t get another date.”

“Okay, fine. You win.”

Frankie smirked in victory and sipped from the glass of her wine. She felt like a real classy lady. Frankie felt like she won the elections. Lucas chuckled. He found her more adorable than ever.

The two continued on learning about each other while eating. They established a stronger connection when they talked about being mixed race. Lucas chatted about his family in Thailand and Hong Kong. Apparently, his father met his mother while he was on a vacation in Thailand. When his parents got married, his father convinced his mother to move from Thailand to Hong Kong. He also discussed how hard for his mother to learn Cantonese and Mandarin, so he learned speaking in Thai for her.

Frankie also told him about how her parents met. Her mother was working in Japan as an English teacher and met her father in a goukonor group blind date. She also told him she spends her time alternating from Japan and Philippines so she was close to both sides of her family. She spent her vacations in the Philippines and went back to Japan in time for school.

“Halfies are kinda popular in Japan,” Frankie stated and drank some water. “Is that so?” Lucas was cutting a piece of meat with his knife. “Yeah, I heard some Japanese stay in gaijinhouses, it’s a cheap way of accommodation for foreigners in Japan. Some of them have this notion that hāfusor halfies like us are attractive, so these women are searching for foreign partners to give them a halfie baby, so their offspring will be attractive,” Frankie explained. Lucas laughed, “what can I say? Halfies like us are very attractive.”

Lucas loved architecture so much that he wanted to see one of his creations be built in Japan. His favorite type of architecture was brutalism. Frankie wanted to write a book and be fluent in at least seven languages. When Lucas asked, Frankie answered that she got her love of language from her mother.

Lucas and Frankie had fun eating and talking to each other. When it came to bills, Lucas kept his word and they divided the payment in half. They left the restaurant and headed to a nearby coffee shop to buy coffee to-go. Lucas insisted he was the one to pay the drinks and Frankie agreed. The boy was persistent in paying.

Taipei had an abundance with claw machines. You can spot a claw machine arcade in almost every corner. They chose to settle for the largest claw machine shop they found. It was two-stories high and each machine contained different sets of items.

The second floor had no people. They both thought maybe because it was nighttime already. The neon glow of the machines made up for the emptiness of the second floor.

Lucas tapped his EasyCard and the screen on the claw machine notified him that his balance went from 100 dollars to 90. He then proceeded to play as the numbers on the screen began counting down.

“I’m going to give you Cinnamoroll,” Lucas declared and focused himself on getting the Sanrio stuffed toy. The machine was filled with Sanrio characters like My Melody and the ever famous, Hello Kitty. But among all the characters in the box, Cinnamoroll reminded Lucas of Frankie the best.

“I’m honestly more surprised you know Cinnamoroll’s name,” she tapped the glass. “I know a lot of Sanrio characters. You would know Badtz-Maru is my favorite character because he looked grumpy and it reminded me of me,” he laughed. Frankie looked at the claw grabbing Cinnamoroll but subtly dropped it as soon as it was going to enter the chute.

“Shoot,” Lucas exclaimed, slamming the machine. He was full of energy. “It was so close,” he was annoyed and aggressively banged the screen. “Lucas, don’t break property,” she held Lucas’ hands, laughing. “We’re gonna have to pay for it,” she continued still laughing.

“I was going to give that to you,” his voice was raspy and a little throaty. He got his EasyCard again from his pocket and tapped it again. The game began once again and just like the first attempt, the expected happened.

“The machine is rigged,” he declared but tapped the card for this third attempt. Frankie laughed at him because he continued on playing even though he knew he wasn’t going to win.

She studied his side profile. His big eyes, tall nose, and plump lips all fit into his tiny face. His hair was slicked back and made his features more evident. He had the best side profile Frankie had ever seen and he was so adorably concentrated in getting her Cinnamoroll.

“Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer,” Lucas smirked. He definitely noticed Frankie staring at him. Frankie hated that cliché statement but when Lucas said it, it sounded sexy and she hated it. She hated how easy Lucas turned unsexy things into smolder quality. She blushed once again.

“Is this the time you’re going to tell me I’m handsome?” The claw let go of Cinnamoroll for the nth time. He gave up and went closer to Frankie. Their height gap was obvious and they looked very heart fluttering.

“Maybe the gods don’t want me to get you Cinnamoroll because they want you to hug me every night in replacement of the toy instead.” He tucked in a strand of her hair in her ear. She looked more beautiful with her hair down.

“Wow, smooth,” Frankie smiled back. It was indeed smooth. Was Lucas a playboy in his past life?

He cupped Frankie’s cheeks in his own, big hands and felt her warm blush radiate. He never felt happier. Lucas felt that Frankie liked him back.

He leaned in closer and Frankie felt his breath closer to her face. Lucas was about to kiss her and she wanted to. She wanted to feel his soft lips. She wanted her fingers to trace his lips but she shook her head. Lucas backed away.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt you. I’m still not decided if I’m not going to continue my plan,” Frankie confessed. Lucas’ hands were still not letting go of her cheeks. This was the proof that he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. Frankie didn’t initially want to start something she couldn’t finish in Taipei until her talk with June. Was she too tight on herself?

Lucas smiled a sincere one. “I just wanted to be yours,” he kissed Frankie’s forehead instead. The kiss was soft and innocent. Frankie felt a thousand fireworks light up in her chest and for a moment, everything was right in the world again.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

“June! June!” Frankie banged her fists on June’s door. Now that they were close friends, Frankie didn’t think of etiquette and formalities. It doesn’t matter anymore when you’re close.

June opened her door. She was already wearing her sleep wear, a tank top and cotton shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun and Frankie could not figure out if she was studying or was about to go to sleep.

“What are you doing?” Frankie asked.

“I’m re-watching Gossip Girl. I don’t need your judgments. What brings you here?”

Frankie let herself inside on June’s room. Her room was elegant and sleek but at the same time very feminine. It described June perfectly.

Books and blueprints were laid at her desk. There were three calculators on top of a thick, Engineering textbook. There were pencils, pens, and erasers scattered around the area but the mess seemed orchestrated.

“Lucas kissed me,” Frankie dived in June’s bed as if it was her own. June didn’t mind. She sat on her carpeted floor near Frankie.

“Where?” she was curious but she didn’t let it show so much. Frankie might think she was prying too much on her love life.

“Forehead. It was cute,” she sat on June’s bed. She still couldn’t get over on what happened. She needed someone she could pour her emotions about what happened.

“Did he try kissing you on the lips?” June tapped her own lips. Frankie was used on seeing June without her signature red lipstick. They always had nighttime talks before going to sleep. They acted like each other’s therapist.

“Yeah,” Frankie hugged June’s pillow. The pillow looked like it was going to explode due to Frankie’s tight grip. “And I did not let it happen.”

“But did you want to?”

“Kinda.”

“Frankie.”

“Yeah, I wanted him to kiss me.”

“Okay, this is more interesting than Gossip Girl. Tell me more.”

“Well, we went on a date in this freaking expensive restaurant but the food was so good so it’s worth it.”

“Not the food, Frankie.”

“Um, he was trying to get me Cinnamoroll—”

“Cinnamoroll?”

“It’s a Sanrio character like Hello Kitty and Gudetama. You don’t know?”

“No. No, I don’t. I don’t even know who Gudetama is.”

“June! Seriously?”

“No, not kidding, I don’t know it.”

“Gudetama is a lazy egg yolk with a crippling depression. An embodiment of today’s generation. Anyways, he was playing claw machines and I stared at his side profile which was so good. Better than the food. And he noticed me staring and he went closer and held my cheeks and you know, he leaned in and I shake my head. I told him I don’t want to hurt him because I’m still undecided if I wanna take on my plan and he kissed me on the forehead.”

“So, you rejected him?”

“I did not reject him.”

“Frankie, you did.”

“If you say it like that, I guess so, yeah.”

June climbed to her bed and patted Frankie’s back. “You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. If you wanted to kiss him, then kiss him. I told you—”

“You’ve got nothing to lose,” they both said in unison.

“Don’t restrict yourself to some simple pleasures in life,” June winked at her. Frankie laughed. The people at fourteenth floor were fond of winking.

“I’ll try my best, Junie-bear,” she hugged June in gratitude. She knew she could count on her.  


	8. (November;十一月)

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Frankie quickly went out of it and locked herself in her room. She never felt more disappointed in herself. Had she been focusing on unimportant things than studying recently? She felt so bad. And whenever she felt bad, she beat herself up for it.

Frankie was the studious type. If there was homework, she’d do it right away, if there was a quiz or an exam, she’ll study to get an A. In fact, she was so used on getting good grade that she didn’t know what to feel when she got a B in her latest test. B was not good enough. B was not cut it. The grade was not a failure, it was not F. But for her it was. And it just hurt. She didn’t know where she went wrong. She studied for the test hard, didn’t she?

Frankie sighed and pulled her chair from her study desk. She tossed her phone on the bed. No social media tonight, no YouTube marathons tonight, tonight was study night. Frankie reminded herself not to talk to her friends, too. She needed to immerse herself in her textbook and get her A back for the next exam.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Food was laid out on the table. June, Lucas, and Johnny were all eating out on the common room. They pitched in money for some fast food delivery. Taiwan food was delicious but sometimes they missed eating greasy fries and burgers.

They were all concerned for Frankie. It had been three hours passed since she locked herself up. They never saw Frankie like that. Even when she was studying, she goes out once in a while for some refresher.

“Let’s bring her food,” Lucas was obviously showing his worry. He took a bite of his burger and wrapped it. There was still a small portion left but he can’t finish it due to lost appetite. “Maybe it’s best if we let her be for a moment,” Johnny shared his sentiments. He grabbed two pieces of fries, dipped it in the pool of ketchup and dropped it in his mouth.

June was worried about two things. First was Frankie. Second was her History subject. It was a minor subject and the weighed units were less but she still had to pass it. Humanities and Social Sciences were always her weakest point but it was Frankie’s strong suit. And she needed Frankie’s help.

She stood up. “I’ll try to talk to her.” June just wanted Frankie to be alright but there was also no denying that there was a hidden agenda.

June arrived in front of Frankie’s door. She gave it two knocks and it clicked unlock.

Frankie’s hair was up in a ponytail. She had highlighter stains on her hands. She also had her reading glasses on. That was when June knew she was studying intently.

“Hey you,” Frankie said. “Hey, Frankie,” June greeted back.

“Have you eaten something yet? Did you have lunch?” June asked questions. Frankie shook her head, “I’m really not in the mood to eat. It feels like I don’t deserve to eat something until I finish the required reading.” 

“Frank, don’t be too hard on yourself,” June had completely forgotten that she was going to ask Frankie about helping her on History. Worry had taken over her.

“I’m okay, June. I just need to stop slacking.”

“Frankie, don’t lie to yourself. You don’t slack. You aren’t lazy. There are some things that you couldn’t control. Sometimes, even if you pour out your best, you still can’t get the results you wanted, and that’s okay. That’s part of life. That’s part of learning. It allows yourself to grow and be a better person, okay? When you’re finished, you can join us at the common room. We ordered some burgers and fries. We saved you some extra.” June enveloped Frankie into her arms. Frankie hugged her back. June was the big sister she never had.

“Thank you but I’m really not in the mood for grease right now. You can eat it. I know how much you want to,” Frankie cracked a smile.

June nodded and was about to turn away when she remembered something. Another purpose why she was here.

“Uh, Frankie—”

It was too late. Frankie had already closed her door. June sighed. She didn’t want to bother her enough. She needed to study History on her own.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

“Jaehyun-ah, we love you. We miss you every day.”

Jaehyun just ended a call with his mom. He never wanted to admit it but he wanted to cry. He missed Korea. Most of all, he missed his family. Given, he lived in Connecticut for four years but he was with his mom, dad, and his older sibling. Now he was alone in his room in Taipei.

He had always been responsible and never failed to show his reliable self. Jaehyun felt like his responsible persona would crumble down if he talked about his homesickness to his friends. After all, they were all homesick, too. They were no different from him. Sharing his feelings of homesickness to his friends will be like putting another burden on them and he didn’t want that. He was supposed to be the one that carries all the responsibilities and burdens. He shook his head. Jaehyun can’t be the burden. He was Superman.

But Superman needed someone to share all his problems to.

Jaehyun unlocked his phone and decided to call Nina. He hoped she wasn’t busy. There was nothing like a Taiwan local to show him the ropes.

“Hello?” Nina’s voice sounded even more dulcet on the phone. It made Jaehyun smile.

“Nina,” his voice betrayed him. He felt a lump on his throat. Was he going to cry right now?

“Jaehyun, what’s wrong?” she sounded concerned. Jaehyun’s sensitive ear heard that she shifted position as her clothes rustled against the bedsheet. Was she sleeping? Her voice didn’t sound like she just woke up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you, I can end the call, if you want,” a tear trickled down his cheek. His body had betrayed him. He was never the type to cry.

“Jaehyun, you’re never a nuisance. Where are you? Let’s meet at the café,” despite ending her sentence, she did not put the phone down or ended the call. Nina wanted to make sure Jaehyun was safe and sound. “Okay,” he grabbed his jacket from his chair. He kept the call running until he reached the café.

Nina’s house was just near TaiNu. It was a fifteen-minute walk. Nina was aware of how Jaehyun handled himself. He wanted to project himself as this perfect, exemplary human being but of course there was these two keywords: human being. As much as Jaehyun wanted to be Superman who always saved the day, he was just human. He needed saving too once in a while.

Jaehyun arrived in front of the café, his eyes shown the slight shade of red from preventing himself to cry and there was a visible lump in his throat. Nina did not think twice. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly like they were never going to see each other again. Jaehyun never knew he needed this. 

If Jaehyun was Superman, he can’t directly say Nina was his Lois Lane. Nina was both his Lois Lane and his kryptonite. Nina was his strength and weakness. And it was clear to him, he was starting to like her even more.

Nina smelled sweet like candy. Everything about her was sweet, her voice, her smell, and her actions. She was made out of candies and rainbows.

“Do you want to take a walk? You can talk about it while we stroll,” she let go of the hug. She smiled at him. Nina was so pretty.

“Where? Here?” Jaehyun managed to let out a chuckle. Out of TaiNu was where he needed to be.

“Let’s go to Datong. It’s my favorite district in all of Taipei and I’m positive you’ll love it too. I’ll even treat you to some bubble tea and pineapple cakes.” Nina looked at Jaehyun’s eyes. They were sad and empty. And she had a gut feeling what his problem was.

Jaehyun agreed and they walked out of TaiNu premises. TaiNu was near a train station similar to other university locations around Taipei. The commute to Datong was fast and efficient. Nina did not urge him to talk on their way and explicitly told him to only talk when he was ready.

They got off the train and station itself. Nina held Jaehyun’s wrist to made sure he was with her at all times. Nina knew he hated being treated like a kid and preferred he was the one to act mature but she figured Jaehyun wanted to let his guard down for a while.

Datong district was different from Da’an district, the district where TaiNu was located. Da’an was more bustling—it was where a large number of schools and universities where located, it was also a shopping and commercial location, and it was home to some of the most expensive real-estate in Taiwan. Datong was calm. It was quieter than Da’an and provided a homey atmosphere.

There were people from all walks of life around. There were a group of students, bubble teas in hand, chatting away in Mandarin Chinese. There was an elderly man walking with his cane, holding a small paper bag with his free hand. There’s a couple walking with a baby in the stroller.

Jaehyun felt comfortable with his surroundings. Datong was so relaxing. He took a sharp intake of breath.

“Homesick. I feel so homesick,” he confessed.

Nina did not pat his back or did whatever to console him. She just kept quiet. It was a signal for him to continue talking, to continue venting.

“I miss Korean meat. I miss the weather. I miss my school. I miss my friends. I miss my routine. I miss my family. I just miss being in Korea,” he sighed another one, “don’t get me wrong. Taiwan is great. I’m loving Taiwan but it’s not Korea.”

“I don’t know what to say, Jaehyun,” Nina paused, “I never studied abroad before but what I do know is that there are stages of homesickness.”

“Stages?”

“Yes, I read it online. It has five stages. Excitement, disorientation, loneliness, homesickness, and acceptance.”

“I’m on the fourth now?”

“Only you can say that.”

“But it’s good that you’re talking to me. You’re not bottling up feelings,” Nina said. Jaehyun felt the slightest bit of guilt. He tried to bottle it up but it just didn’t work. Telling someone was his emergency option, it wasn’t even an option at first.

He wasn’t good about telling what he felt. Jaehyun wasn’t good at handling emotions that were too overwhelming. He thought that it would shatter his ‘older brother’ image. But he wasn’t a celebrity. He wasn’t a public figure. There was no image to uphold. Even famous people break down too and it is part of being human. Nina guessed maybe Jaehyun was afraid of disappointing people who count on him so much. 

“Going out more and immersing yourself in activities might be helpful if you don’t want to talk about it,” she suggested. Nina spotted a bubble tea shop and she tugged Jaehyun’s jacket to alert him that they should go in the shop.

“I can talk about it, if it’s you who’ll listen,” Jaehyun blurted. He wanted to take that back. It sounded wrong. It was unlike him. What if that simple statement changes things? He wasn’t someone who stepped out of his comfort zone easily.

Nina’s eyes became as wide as saucers. Jaehyun waved his hands calmly, his eyebrows were creased, “I did not mean it that way, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry, it’s alright. I didn’t take it in a bad way,” Nina giggled. It was Jaehyun’s thing to say ‘don’t worry’, it was his trademark.

Nina wished he did not apologized. She was starting to develop a serious crush on him. Who wouldn’t have a crush on Jaehyun?

Jaehyun opened the shop’s door for her. Was it the right thing to say? Did he ruin everything?

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

_Ping._

 

Johnny’s phone had received a text message. He paused the song that he was working on. He made a mental note to add more reverb to the song later. Johnny checked the screen. It was from Lucas.

 

**Johnny哥哥!!!! Have dinner with me!!!**

 

Those Chinese characters confused him. He didn’t know what that meant. He also noticed Lucas used exclamation points too much. That boy screamed excitement and optimism even on texts.

 

 **Ok. Be out in a sec.**

 

He closed his laptop, grabbed his wallet and earphones from his bedside table, and headed out.

Lucas was already standing near his door when he went out. He leaned his back against the wall with his hands playing with his phone.

“Let’s go?” Johnny tapped his shoulder. Lucas gave two nods and they walked towards the elevator.

“What does the Chinese characters on your message mean?” Johnny asked. The elevator was on the sixth floor on its journey way up. Lucas had both of his hands in his pocket.

“Oh, it’s gēgē, it means older brother in Chinese,” Lucas smiled at him. Johnny felt a little warm inside that Lucas looked up to him as an older brother. It was a small thing and he probably called him as an older brother because he was older than Lucas but nevertheless, he felt touched. He was the only child of his parents and he had always wanted a younger sibling more than anything else.

The elevator doors had unsealed. The two tall boys stepped inside. Johnny pressed the button and the doors closed.

“What’s younger brother in Chinese?” Johnny wished there was elevator music. The elevator seemed so empty and quiet.

“Dìdì,” Lucas answered. Johnny detected how his tone was so precise and perfect.

“Dìdì?” he tried to copy how Lucas pronounced it. He knew that speaking Mandarin was hard as you have to take note of how you pronounce things. One slight tonal change and the meaning would be different.

“You speak well, gēgē.”

“So, Lucas dìdì?”

“It sounds funny but your pronunciation is perfect.”

“Aren’t you used to being called as dìdì?”

“Not so much. A few only do. Besides, I don’t want to be a dìdì. I want to be seen as a gēgē.”

Johnny chuckled. Of course, Lucas wanted to be seen as a mature, capable man. “Lucas gēgē sounds quite nice,” Johnny said.

The elevator doors opened. The lobby had people from all over the dorm. They spotted Mark and Yuta from the crowd. Johnny and Lucas exchanged hellos with them and proceeded to go out of the building.

Johnny noticed that most of the girls’ gaze followed Lucas. He nudged Lucas with his elbow. “Guess who’s Mr. Popular?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Me,” Lucas cockily stated. “Ladies can’t get enough of Wong handsomeness,” he even pretended to brush some dust from his chest. Johnny exploded in a fit of laughter. Lucas knew he was hot. And he had a right to brag a little about it.

“But don’t say you don’t think girls aren’t checking you out, too,” Lucas added and linked arms with Johnny. “I’m not the only one turning heads. You’re good looking too,” Lucas subtly pointed to the group of girls admiring Johnny.

Johnny shook his head twice, chuckling, “I’m not that handsome. Not like you.”

“But you are. Stop denying,” Lucas said. “Girls can check me out all they want but they still won’t be getting Wong piece-of-meat because they aren’t Frankie,” Lucas’ voice softened on cue when he said Frankie’s name. It was like Frankie’s voice was so delicate that you need to say it in a breathy whisper.

He was undoubtedly happy for Lucas. Lucas was happier and more alive whenever he was with Frankie but Johnny can’t seem to read if Frankie felt the same. She was confused with what she’s feeling inside, he can tell.

“Where do you want to eat?” Johnny asked. They were walking aimlessly.

“Can we carry our food out, please? I need to work on my plate.” Lucas had a plan of eating his dinner while sketching his plate. It was due next week and he hasn’t even started yet. His work had to go processes like drawing and rendering.

“Okay then.” Johnny had expected they would eat dinner together. But Lucas’ plan worked, too. He had to finish a song.

“I’m getting flour-rice noodles, do you want, too?” Lucas had started to walk in the direction of the flour-rice noodle stall. Johnny had to stop. He had heard that it had pig intestines as toppings and he wasn’t too adventurous of an eater. “I’m going to get rice burgers,” he pointed to the popular burger chain store on his left. “Sure then, let’s just meet at the gate,” Lucas stated.

The red logo of the store enticed him. For a moment, Johnny thought he was like a rice burger, the perfect mix of Eastern and Western culture. He was both Asian and American. He was not biracial like Frankie or Lucas but he can relate. He can never be considered fully Asian or fully American. He belonged nowhere. But for him, that’s fine. He was used to it.

Johnny ordered two yakiniku rice burgers and two Taiwan iced green tea. He had also bought red bean matcha mochi pie and hazelnut tiramisu. He was lucky there wasn’t anyone waiting in line behind him because if there was, he would hold them up as he was taking too long to articulate his order in Mandarin. In the end, he gave up and only pointed to the pictures of the foods he wanted to get.

Lucas and Johnny had met in the gate. Johnny was first to get there considering the distance and how fast he had gotten his food. Lucas noticed Johnny had two of everything he ordered.

“Midnight snack?” he teased.

Johnny also noticed Lucas was holding two covered paper bowls of flour-rice noodles. “I could say the same,” he joked back. Lucas chuckled.

“The other one’s for Frankie.” Lucas raised his left hand holding the content. “Oh, we both bought her something. The other is for Frankie, too,” Johnny sipped on his iced tea.

Lucas felt jealous but he wasn’t the only one allowed to care for Frankie. He felt like a loser only buying Frankie flour-rice noodles meanwhile Johnny has bought her a drink and a dessert, too. He wanted to go to the nearest convenience store and buy her an extra something even though this wasn’t a competition on who can buy something for Frankie the most.

Johnny sighted Lucas’ jaw tensed. There was also a slight, angry crease in his eyebrows. “I’m bringing this to her as a friend. I have no intentions on stealing her from you. You’re also the apple of her eye. I’m out of the picture, dude,” Johnny appeased the situation. Lucas exhaled from relief even though he knew Johnny had no intentions on Frankie, it was still good hearing it from his mouth.

“That’s reassuring to hear, gēgē,” Lucas beamed of relief. It’s a good thing Johnny was not out to get Frankie’s heart because if he was, he was some serious competition and the worst thing was, Johnny doesn’t even know he was competition.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The television was on in the common room. It was showing a popular Taiwanese drama that featured the hottest young stars of the country. The actors’ voices sounded like a Chinese lullaby. The temperature was cranked to a colder setting, making it conducive for a good night’s sleep.

That’s why Taeyong was sleeping on the couch, knees bent, eyes closed, and hairs stood because of the cold. Had June not came inside the common room, the television would continue to be turned on and Taeyong would uncomfortably froze.

June turned off the TV with the remote located on the table. She doesn’t have a clue why Taeyong would watch a TV show in the Chinese language. He wouldn’t understand a thing.

She crouched down to his level and touched his blonde tips. It was a little spiky from the combination of hair gel and sweat. Taeyong had a habit of only washing his body after practice, not including his hair.

His breathing was composed and his facial expression was at peace. June wished he looked like this every day. She and the others had been used to seeing Taeyong look emotionless and borderline angry. Back then, she teased that Taeyong looked like an angry bird and it would make Taeyong laugh. She imagined if she cracked that joke now, she would only earn a scowl from him.

Her fingertips traced the lining of his arms. It was toned and muscular. His ballet practices and workouts definitely was showing from his body.

Taeyong was probably tired of practice and went to the common room for some form of entertainment and maybe catch someone he could have a small talk with. He had seen Taeyong a few times with Johnny and June figured Taeyong was the most comfortable with him.

She felt Taeyong’s body shiver more because of the cold. June decided to turn the temperature down a notch and got an extra blanket from her room.

The blanket was from her wàipó, her maternal grandmother. Her wàipó loved knitting and she knitted this gray and white blanket just for June. Whenever June needed comfort, she always hugged this blanket. She hoped it would provide the same comfort for Taeyong.

June placed the blanket on Taeyong’s body, tucking him in. His body stopped shivering in an instant the warmth embraced him. She smiled at her sight. He looked more comfortable and more at ease.

She sighed softly, her arms folded over her chest, “I never got over you, Lee Taeyong.”


	9. (November;十一月)

Frantic footsteps can be heard echoing the walls of the hallway. It was a miracle Frankie did not slip while running wearing her socks.

She knocked on Johnny’s door and with four hard knocks, Johnny answered with his morning face. He still looked quite charming.

“Frankie,” he yawned, “what’s the matter?”

“Thank you for the food last night,” she smiled. Her grin was as bright as the morning sun. Johnny scratched his head. He was not yet registering his surroundings. It was too early to wake up. “You’re welcome,” he uttered.

“Okay, go back to sleep,” she titled her head. He chuckled. “Really, Frankie? After waking me up you’re telling me to go back to sleep? How nice,” he rolled his eyes in a teasing manner. Johnny’s voice was raspy and for Frankie it sounded sexy enough to make her senses tingle. But of course, she won’t show it.

“It’s seven o’clock anyways. You stink, take the time to have a shower,” Frankie pinched her nose together. Johnny laughed. “Go say good morning to lover boy,” he ruffled Frankie’s already messy hair. It was clearly a big brother gesture but Frankie can’t help but squeal a bit inside. Moments like this remind Frankie more of their height difference.

Frankie saluted him, actions mimicking ‘yes, sir!’. She then proceeded to skip to Lucas’ room. She knocked gently and waited for Lucas open.

Lucas had already taken a bath; his hair was still wet but it looked like it was already dried by a towel. Thankfully, he was not half naked. He was wearing a military green shirt, dark-colored slacks that perfectly outlined his legs, and gray socks. Frankie thought of Lucas wearing that classic white sneakers of his. She figured it was his favorite shoes.

“I could get used to seeing you in my doorstep every morning,” Lucas rested his arm on the door frame. He acted like a bad boy from a high school romance movie.

They heard someone cough. Frankie turned around to see who that was and Lucas’s eyes spotted Jaehyun. “So early in the morning you two,” Jaehyun sounded like a grandfather, a mug of milk in his left hand. Jaehyun came from the common room judging by his actions. He quietly passed by and entered the room beside Lucas’s.

“It’s never too early for love, am I right?” Lucas wiggled his eyebrows playfully at Frankie. It earned him a hearty laugh from Frankie. It was music in his ears. His day had just begun but he felt like he succeeded already.

“So, what brings you here? Can’t get enough of Lucas Wong?” he joked. Frankie mischievously rolled her eyes. “I’m kidding, but, why are you here? Your class isn’t until 9,” Lucas had gotten hold of her schedule. It amazed Frankie that Lucas knew what time her class was. She had almost forgotten her class will start at 9 today.

She tiptoed to reach his face. Frankie left his cheek a short but sweet peck. Lucas touched the place where Frankie’s lips left its mark. His grin was spanning ear to ear. His day was clearly made. His past efforts were worth it.

“Thank you for bringing me food last night,” she bit her lower lip. If she had allowed herself to smile, she’ll definitely look like a crazy psycho. Frankie was good at this, acting coy. With her small peck, she felt shy and forward at the same time.

“Nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” the confident Lucas showed bashfulness for the first time. His head hung low and his cheeks were red. “I would even buy the whole flour-rice noodle stall for you,” and Lucas Wong the Cool was back.

“Pretty sure it is owned by a corporation, Lucas.”

“Then, I’ll buy the corporation for you.”

“I can buy the corporation myself, don’t use your money on me.”

Lucas chuckled, “a strong, independent woman, I like it.” He pinched Frankie’s cheek. “Get ready, then. Class is early today,” she touched Lucas’s arm. He pouted his mouth and pointed his cheek, suggesting Frankie to kiss him again. “Save it for another day, Wong,” Frankie had instead left a subtle pat to his cheek.

Lucas smiled as he watched Frankie go to the common room. She’ll be the death of him.

 

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June was already washing plates and other utensils when Frankie went inside the common room. There was a single mug atop the table but other than that, it was wiped clean.

“Good morning, June,” Frankie sat on one of the wooden chairs circled around the table. The chairs were exactly six, one for each of them. Had TaiNu customized the materials and the furniture depending on how many people had been staying on the floor? She had heard some floors had eight people.

“Stay there. I’ll cook for you,” June opened the fridge. She spoke as if Frankie was going somewhere. June was like the mom of the 14th floor, Jaehyun was the dad, Johnny was the big brother, Taeyong was the middle child, Frankie was the little sister, and Lucas was the baby.

“June, you don’t need to,” she stood up and checked the contents of the fridge with June. “Nonsense. You didn’t talk to anyone last night! We were worried! Tell me you had eaten the food the boys brought you,” June brought out the Spam placed on a plastic container. She also got two eggs. Frankie watched as June swiftly get the chopping board and diced the Spam.

June might not know some house chores from being so sheltered, but she sure knew how to cook. Cooking was the only chore her mom taught her. Her mom said that no man would marry her if she doesn’t know how to cook. Cleaning the house and washing the dishes were skills she picked up from watching their maid.

“It was enough for a dinner and a midnight snack,” Frankie honestly answered. She didn’t have the biggest appetite last night but there were no leftovers. She didn’t want to leave some, she felt guilty. “Tell me you had enough sleep,” June continued dicing the Spam into little pieces. She cracked the two eggs in the bowl, beaten it, and added the Spam.

“I think so,” Frankie’s voice became small. June detected she was lying. June shook her head and clucked her tongue. An Asian mom move that she made. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Frankie. We can’t all be perfect. Your grades can’t always be perfect and we must accept that, alright? Keep in mind what I said to you last night,” June kept on speaking as she plugged in the electric stove. She placed the pan and waited for it to heat.

“I’m trying,” Frankie scratched her cheek. She sat on the chair nearest to June. June melted some butter in the pan and poured the batter in. The mixture was cooked fast and June even served her the food.

“Enjoy your breakfast,” she placed the plate in front of Frankie. Frankie got herself a glass of water and downed it before devouring the food. She can’t seem to categorize if it was Spam omelet or scrambled eggs with Spam. “Thank you,” she took a bite of her food.

“Don’t worry about it as long as you promise me you won’t be too strict or hard on yourself.” June was leaning on the counter with her arms folded. Her white tank top hugged her body perfectly and showcased her collarbones.

Frankie took another forkful of her food. “I’ll try,” she beams softly.

“I also have something to ask of you,” June tucked in a strand of her hair, “will you teach me History? I’ve been struggling with it a lot and you’re so good at it. I need your help.”

Frankie’s beam went even wider, “small thing. Sure.”

 

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“It’s boys’ night!” Lucas shouted like a frat boy. Taeyong tried to distance himself from the boys making it look like he was not part of the group, Jaehyun laughed at Lucas’s antics, and Johnny hid his face in his big hands in shame.

Some people’s stares had followed the boys, maybe because of Lucas being too loud or because they were head turners. Lucas was wearing a leather jacket despite the weather not being too cold, just to keep a bad boy look. Johnny was wearing a denim jacket, Jaehyun with a TaiNu letterman jacket, and Taeyong donning a wool cardigan.

The international students at TaiNu had coined the term, F4, for the boys because they were good-looking, each have their distinct personality, and of course, their aura was next level. The boys had acted oblivious to it but it was the international students’ code for them whenever they want to talk about the boys. The students thought that they didn’t know but the boys definitely do.

“Is the F4 going to the club?” Lucas slung his two arms around Jaehyun and Johnny’s shoulders. Taeyong never felt envious of the three boys’ heights. He was contented with his self.

“Too much noise, too much people, tomorrow is a school day” Jaehyun counted with his fingers, summarizing all the cons he could think of. They passed by a Japanese restaurant. Their unanimous craving for noodles started.

“Mala Hot Pot is around the vicinity, I think,” Johnny peered from his phone. He looked at his surroundings then his phone. He was looking at a map. “I stand corrected,” he nodded.

“Okay, who’s in for hot pot?” Jaehyun faced them and walked backwards. Lucas and Johnny raised their hands, Taeyong only nodded in agreement. “Hot pot, it is,” Jaehyun declared.

 

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They haven’t known that this was the ‘it’ place for hot pot. If they had known, they could have reserved a table beforehand.

The hot pot place was located in Ximending, one of the trendiest place in whole of Taipei. Jaehyun and Taeyong was instantly reminded of Myeongdong when they first saw Ximending two or three months ago. The place was full of lights and was a shopping haven.

People were packing in in the hot place. Some have reservations and others, like the boys, have not. They were put in a waiting list and when they were almost giving up. Their number was called. Maybe it was meant to be that they should eat there.

“Do they serve beer here?” Lucas asked, his eyes wondering around the place. “Are you legal to drink?” Jaehyun scanned the menu. There were different choices of soup base and most of the food was self-served. “Yeah, I’m 19. The legal drinking age here is 18,” Lucas stated.

“What’s the not spicy base?” Jaehyun asked Lucas. Taeyong and Johnny were reading the menu too as if they understand what was written. “Here,” Lucas pointed to one of the five listed choices for soup base. “Let’s just get a divider so we have room for two soup bases,” Johnny suggested, putting down the menu. “Good idea,” Jaehyun approved.

The boys had ordered two soup bases, the other was spicy, one was not. They had also chosen their meats and Lucas and Johnny were the ones assigned to get more food for their hot pot. Jaehyun was on his phone, Taeyong’s stare followed the staff who served meats.

Five plates of thinly-sliced meats were served at the same time Johnny and Lucas arrived holding plates of vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, and different kinds of fish balls. “Lucas insisted of getting these,” Johnny put down the plate of mushrooms. “It’s fine,” Jaehyun swiftly put the other half of the mushrooms on one side of pot, and the half on the other side.

“I’m just going to eat one bowl,” Taeyong gave a heads-up. He doesn’t want people feeding him more. “Strict diet,” he followed up before the three could ask any more questions as to why he will just have one bowl.

The boys proceeded to chatter while eating. Taeyong was mostly quiet, only talking when he had to contribute something important. It was part of his personality, he was a man of few words. Taeyong confirmed to himself that he had found his friends that finally understood him.

They had fun. It was not a typical activity to do on a boys’ night out but it was new and refreshing. They had learned more about each other and got their tummy filled in the process. Jaehyun finally opened up his struggle with homesickness and others had provided him some helpful tips on how to overcome it.

“I make a time to call my parents every day,” Lucas stated, he felt his tummy exploding because of the huge amount of food he ate. “I facetime my parents and take a stroll around town,” Johnny was eating an ice cream as a dessert. “Oh yeah, I discovered a cool café and a shop that sells good clothes because I was walking around feeling homesick,” Lucas slumped more in his seat. “My simplest solution to cure homesickness is that I eat Korean foods,” Taeyong was on his last spoon of mango pudding.

“Homesickness is part of staying abroad for a long time. Take it from me,” Taeyong has put down his spoon. He kept his plan on only eating one bowl and a small cup of mango pudding. “I had studied in Singapore, New York, and Paris, and I had gotten used to it. Being away all the time. I still feel homesick sometimes,” Taeyong drank a glass of water. Whenever he was the one speaking, the other boys will keep silent.

“There was a time I don’t think I won’t get over it. I even bought a ticket to Korea. That’s how I badly wanted to be home,” he continued on talking, “then I just ate Korean foods and snacks. I got scolded by my ballet teacher, we aren’t supposed to eat too much. She gave me three hours more practice,” Taeyong smirked, “it was worth it.”

The three boys laughed. This was the closest they would see Taeyong’s playful side. He might not speak often times but when he does, they learned a lot from him, they discover something new about him. He was like an onion; he had endless layers.

“I skipped a class to talk to my mom,” Lucas admitted with a laugh. “I miss her so much,” he added. If he could, he would hug his mom right now. Lucas’ mom made the best _Gaeng Keow Wan Kai_ or Green Chicken Curry he had ever tasted. “I miss a good deep dish pizza.” Johnny settled his chin on his hand.

“Thick-crust pizza still wins. Sorry, I don’t make the rules,” Lucas rolled his shoulders backwards. “Go to Chicago with me and I bet you you’ll change your mind,” Johnny smirked.

“Okay, enough of the pizza talk. Let’s go home, we all have classes tomorrow.” Jaehyun commanded like a dad. They can’t all help think that Jaehyun would be a good parent. They all gave their monetary contributions to Jaehyun, Taeyong contributed the same as the three guys even though he only ate a few. He didn’t mind. He did it for the brotherhood. Jaehyun attempted to give Taeyong’s money back but Taeyong refused.

The boys went out of the hot pot place happy and full. They felt that their friendship became stronger and they secretly thanked Lucas for proposing a boys’ night out. Boys’ night out might be a biweekly thing, now.


	10. (December;十二月)

Johnny was still struggling on his crucial project—the EP they were required to make. Five tracks and he wasn’t even done with one. He ruffled his hair in frustration. His fingers tapped the squares on his beat pad. The beat wasn’t coming in. He was sure he had an inspiration already but the farthest that inspiration got him was a half-finished song.

He opened his browser and checked his SoundCloud account. Twenty more followers. Johnny was popular in the site, even the big leagues on SoundCloud follow him. His music thrived on the site—his followers loved him for the music he created and he produced, he was proud of that.

There were three accounts suggested on the right side of the site. Johnny curiously clicked ‘Come I Clap For You’. The account was premium, had twenty uploaded songs, and two thousand followers. If he liked Come I Clap For You’s songs, he can ask for a collaboration.

Come I Clap For You’s uploads were mostly song covers, only one was an original song. He decided to listen to the account’s most listened song which was a cover of SZA’s The Weekend. He was pleasantly surprised when the strumming of guitar filled his ears. Come I Clap For You’s voice was angelic and soft yet her vibrato was strong and snazzy, her cover was definitely a different take of the song.

He then listened to the account’s recent upload, a cover of IU’s Palette. As usual, the sounds of acoustic guitar were heard but what Johnny didn’t expect was her good pronunciation of Korean. She pronounced Korean words better than him. He figured if she was Korean or not.

Then, his eyes lingered to the description box.

**Hello, listeners! I might not upload songs often because I’m going on a study abroad in Taiwan. It might take me a long time to make another cover because I’m not bringing my guitar with me :/ Wish me luck ^_^**

Johnny leaned back in his seat, hard. His back collided with the soft padding of his seat but he felt it hurt. Was Come I Clap For You thought he was? It was all clicking now. It was slowly making sense.

He pressed pause. Then play. He tried to concentrate on the female’s voice. Why didn’t he notice it was all too familiar the first time he had heard it?

Come I Clap For You was a good singer. She had control of her voice and knew how to make a song hers. Johnny wanted a collaboration with her for his EP and it was easier to make an action now he knew who she was.

Johnny took off his earphones and raced his way out. He knocked on her door a few times before she finally opened. He was lucky she didn’t have classes today.

“Do you need something?” Her speaking voice definitely had traces of Come I Clap For You’s singing voice. He exhaled, it was either he will be embarrassed for asking or not but it was now or never. He needed her for his project.

“Are you Come I Clap For You?” he asked earnestly. Her eyes became wide as saucers. Her biggest secret was exposed right in front of her face. Maybe this was what Hannah Montana felt like.

“How did you know?” She didn’t say yes but her reaction was enough to confirm it was her. “I’m sorry, the SoundCloud algorithm led me to you.” Johnny scratched his nape. He doesn’t want her to think that he was stalking her.

“To answer your question, yes, I am Come I Clap For You,” she declared. There was no way out. This was the time Miley Cyrus confessed she was Hannah Montana.

“Okay,” Johnny cleared his throat, “A proposal? Can you collab with me for my project, please?”

June released a sharp exhale. “I’ll think about it.”

 

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Mornings were the best time to jog no matter what others say.

Frankie prepared her workout playlist. She queued in some songs that she had discovered last night. Jay Park songs would be perfect for that need for adrenaline pump.

Just then the elevator doors close, a hand swooped in, preventing the doors from fully closing. The hand looked masculine. Frankie knew who was coming in with her.

“Good morning,” Taeyong greeted. He was decked with exercise clothes—hoodie, sweatpants, and Nike. “Hey, T,” Frankie smiled at him. Taeyong was little surprised Frankie called him T. He felt it did not fit him. It was like a cool rapper’s name, someone that he wasn’t. Taeyong knew Frankie called him T just to tease him a bit, she might have heard it from Johnny. Johnny was the only one who called him T.

“Did Johnny told you to call me that?” he crossed his arms over his chest. There was a hint of teasing in his eyes. Frankie just laughed. They started to become jogging buddies last month when they coincidentally went for a jog in the same day. Frankie thought Taeyong wasn’t coming in today given how strict and hectic his practice was last night.

“No, but he did tell me not to hit on his boyfriend, aka you,” Frankie elaborated the letters, a, k, and a with her tongue. Johnny and Taeyong’s bromance was real. They, 14thfloor, boys were close with each other but Johnny and Taeyong were the dynamic duo, maybe because they were both born on the same year. Taeyong scrunched up his nose. “Funny, he told me not to hit on his girlfriend, too.”

Frankie fake coughed. Was it to cover up the creeping heat on her cheeks? She doesn’t know. “Girl space friend,” Frankie corrected, “You people like to put malice on girl-boy friendships.” Taeyong had a small smile playing on his lips. “I wasn’t implying anything, Frankie.”

Now, Frankie felt stupid. Was she the one implying something?

Ding. The doors unsealed.

Taeyong and Frankie had the same jogging route. They went for a warm-up walk first from the international dormitory to the medical building which lasted for ten minutes then they began to jog, circling the whole TaiNu territory. It was less boring than going on the same path in the field for minutes.

They were jogging buddies but whenever they started to jog, the two don’t talk. Taeyong may have been more open and more jokey with them but that doesn’t mean he had grown the love for talking. Besides, Frankie liked listening to music when she worked out. Nobody liked talking to anyone when all you can hear from their mouth was huffs and puffs.

Forty-five minutes into jogging and they finally settled into sitting on one of the benches. The leaves of the tree provided a much-needed shade. The sun was starting to rise and wave its rays. Frankie purchased a bottle of water from a vending machine near the bench. She suddenly missed Japan.

She took big gulps of water and handed the bottle to Taeyong. His sips were more relaxed and tamed than Frankie. They were both tired but Frankie was more panting more like she ran for a hundred miles.

“Your eye moles remind me of Beenzino’s.” Taeyong turned the bottle cap to close. The bottle was now empty and was ready to be disposed of. He glanced at Frankie’s eye moles. Without those, Frankie wouldn’t be Frankie. It completed her look. Frankie was attractive but those eye moles made her stand out.

“Beenzino?” Frankie wasn’t aware of who Taeyong was referring to.

“Korean rapper,” he answered shortly. “I’ll google him later,” Frankie puffed, still catching her breath. “Well, you look like Takeshi Kaneshiro,” she continued.

“Takeshi Kaneshiro?”

“Yeah. Google him too later. I swear your resemblance is uncanny.”

Some seconds of silence overtook them. Before Frankie started to speak again. She had caught up with her breathing.

“I didn’t know you like listening to rap,” she commented. “Sometimes,” he answered.

There was an air of sweet silence. Neither of them talked and it was highly unlikely Taeyong will be the one to usher in a new topic. They basked in the view of students walking to their class. It was still early in the morning and there weren’t that many people.

“So, you know Chinese?” Frankie was shocked when Taeyong asked her that. Was this leading to another conversation? A small talk? They were friends, yes. But Frankie was always opening topics for their conversations.

“You mean speak? Yeah, I’m kind of good at it. Not fluent good. But above average good,” Frankie honestly stated. It was hard studying Chinese, she wasn’t going to lie. It was even harder when there weren’t that many studying sources at Japan. Part of going to Taipei was learning to be better in Chinese.

Taeyong wanted to learn some words. His Chinese sucked ass. Learning English was a handful, but Chinese was even harder. He was first interested to learn Chinese to get by in Singapore but upon arriving there, he realized he didn’t needed it anyways. Most people in Singapore understand and speak a good amount of English. His interest waned but then he met June. His urge to learn the language came back.

“Can you say some words?”

“Is this an excuse so that you wouldn’t talk, Taeyong?” Frankie said in a teasing manner.

“No. I just wanted to hear some.”

“Liù yuè.”

“Hmm?”

“Liù is six, yuèis month so that means—”

“June.”

Frankie laughed so hard, tears trickled down from her eyes. Taeyong, however, was not amused. He showed a half-smile at her, though. He was going to pretend he was not affected. Sixth month? What does that mean? It doesn’t affect him at all.

“I’m sorry for being garbage.” Frankie stopped laughing and bit her bottom lip. How can she be so insensitive? Taeyong might still be hurting and here she was thinking she was so witty with that joke.

“June is the sixth month. It’s a fact,” Taeyong nodded as if the word ‘June’ doesn’t have meaning on him. He liked keeping a strong front. He was going to pretend his heart didn’t pinched a little when he heard her name.

“C’mon. Let’s go. I’ll cook you breakfast.” That was Frankie’s form of apology. “Bacon. Sunny-side up. Pancakes preferred.” It was also Taeyong’s form of acceptance.

Frankie smiled. At this moment, she wanted to link arms with him, like he was a big brother but they were both sweaty and Frankie didn’t think he would appreciate it anyways. He would probably think she was clingy or whatnot.

“What’s your favorite Japanese food?” Was Taeyong up to something?

“Oyako-don! Tamagoyaki, Taiyaki, of course, classic Sushi.”

“Sushi?”

Frankie caught a smirk playing on Taeyong’s lips when he said Sushi. Also, Taeyong pronounced Sushi similar to Lucas’s Mandarin Pinyin transcription of his name, Huáng Xùxī. Frankie bit back a smile coming in. She had the urge to smack Taeyong on his arms but fought the urge. They were now even.

“And here I thought, I was garbage.”

“Lucas Wong. Huáng Xùxī. Huáng Sushi.”

“You are the ultimate garbage, Lee Taeyong. I swear your pancakes are poisoned. I can imagine what face you’ll be pulling right now if I didn’t answer Sushi. I should have let you down.”

Taeyong only let his smirk lingered as they walk the path towards their dorm.

“And for your information, Lucas is not Japanese food. But a Thai-Chinese fusion food. Yum. Different flavors of the world,” Frankie turned tables. She even smiled a little more seductively for him to get the point. If he thought she was going to be uncomfortable with the metonymy of food with people, he thought wrong.

Taeyong lightly placed his hand on his forehead. It was sign of uncomfortableness or in this case, disappointment. Frankie knew Taeyong picked up the habit of slapping his forehead from Johnny.

“Goodness gracious, Frankie.”

 

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The National Palace Museum was huge. It was Jaehyun and Lucas’s first time entering its doors. The pictures on Google didn’t do the museum any justice. It was really a palace.

Jaehyun needed to go here because of his art appreciation assignment, meanwhile Lucas had to take a look at the National Palace Museum’s grandeur architecture for his project. Jaehyun sometimes forgot that Lucas’ major was Architecture. He seemed a better fit for International Business. Lucas was good with people and that was a major plus in dealing with potential clients.

“We should have arrived a little earlier for the free guided tour, don’t you think?” Jaehyun studied the vases. It screamed pure aesthetic. If he was keen on keeping on a good Instagram feed, he would definitely have captured it. “Meh,” Lucas shrugged, “I wouldn’t listen to it, anyways.”

“You wouldn’t, but I would.” Jaehyun kept his face stoic. Of all the boys in the 14thfloor, Lucas was the most expressive. Jaehyun and Taeyong had always kept their guards up. Lucas was also the boy who mainly used the article ‘I’ when starting a sentence as if he was the only one that mattered.

“You could have gotten audio tours in the counter,” Lucas suggested. The room was full of ancient artefact. He couldn’t imagine that people actually brought those here from China. “I don’t want to pay. Besides, I think I could research it online,” Jaehyun answered, confident. “If you say so,” Lucas shifted to another part of the exhibit.

The truth was Jaehyun was itching to go back to the counter and rent the device for an audio tour. Just looking and studying the artefacts’ visuals made him clueless. He wanted to understand what the ceramics was for about. Granted, there were some descriptions provided but it wasn’t as detailed. He thought about bringing Nina instead of Lucas but Nina being a local doesn’t mean she can explain each side of the exhibition.

“Ah, the Narcissus Basin with Light Bluish-green Glaze. A Ru ware. Made from 1086 to 1106. What a marvel to look at.” Lucas went back close beside Jaehyun when he was done looking at the other side. He thought he sounded so academic and so smart but Jaehyun only thought of Lucas not knowing the concept of personal space.

“I know, Lucas. It was written in the description box.” Jaehyun’s gaze was still focused on the ceramic work. It looked so delicate and light, he could only wish he knew a little bit more on the history of this certain ceramic.

“A Ru ware is one of the rarest Chinese ceramics. It was made completely for the imperial court and one of the Five Great Kilns of the Song Dynasty, along with the Ding porcelain, Jun ware, Guan, and Ge.” Lucas sounded like a museum curator. “Wow, I didn’t know you knew so much about—” Jaehyun’s praise was cut off when he turned his look onto Lucas’s direction and saw Lucas scrolling on his phone.

“The National Palace Museum houses the largest collection of Ru ware,” Lucas continued, reading off from his phone. Jaehyun only managed to laugh. “C’mon, Jaehyun gēgē, don’t laugh. I’m trying to be the audio guide for you.” Lucas was still scrolling on his phone, looking for information. Jaehyun didn’t know if Lucas was serious or not.

“Don’t worry, Lucas. I can seriously research it,” Jaehyun patted Lucas’ back. “I’m just trying to help you.” He puts back his phone back in his pocket. “I was just joking anyway but also trying to give you some useful information,” Lucas said. “No need,” Jaehyun replied as they shuffled off to the next artefact.

“Tell me about the architecture of this place, then.” Jaehyun put both of his hands in his pocket. He can add the architectural details of the National Palace Museum in his art appreciation assignment. No other student would have thought of that. It wouldn’t cross their minds that architecture was also a form of art too because they would be so focused on the metalwork, the paintings, and other form of exhibits.

Lucas cleared his throat as if he was going to say something spectacular. “The National Palace Museum was constructed from 1964 to 1965. It was designed by Taiwanese architect Huang Baoyu. Huang Baoyu was fond of the style of a traditional Chinese palace so the design of National Palace Museum came to be. You can see it by judging the roof, the carvings, the symmetry. Classical Chinese buildings, especially those owned by the wealthy, built buildings on heavy platforms and large roofs that emphasizes more on breadth than of height, and I think National Palace Museum is an example of it,” Lucas spoke naturally. He was not reading from his phone; all of that just came out of his brain and he sounded so passionate. Jaehyun was pleasantly surprised with Lucas’s skill. He loved learning about architecture a lot.

“Impressive,” Jaehyun was talking about Lucas instead of the building’s architecture. “I know,” Lucas got the hint that Jaehyun’s commendation referred to him. “Seems like you know a lot about Chinese architecture,” Jaehyun smiled, Lucas’s cocky attitude was part of him already and would not be going away any time soon. “Not too much,” Lucas stated honestly, “I know a lot about brutalism, though. It’s my favorite architectural style.”

“Give an example of a building with brutalist architecture.”

“Habitat 67 is my favorite. It’s my dream to see it up close. I promise myself that if I’ll ever go to Canada one day, Habitat 67 should be the first one on my list to see. Genex Tower in Belgrade is also a good example. Balfron Tower and Buffalo City Court Building are classics.”

“I’m going to pretend I know what you’re talking about,” Jaehyun chuckled, “you really love architecture, huh?”

“I do. It’s been part of my life since I was young. Living in Hong Kong greatly contributed to that. In my opinion, Hong Kong is a place where beautiful buildings are located. Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Cultural Centre—Kowloon Walled City is so crazy, it’s good.”

Jaehyun nodded. He took in what he said. Lucas was like an architecture academic when it came to these things. Jaehyun liked International Business, but maybe he didn’t love it the way Lucas did with architecture. The boy can talk about architecture for years. But in all honesty, the boy can talk about anything for years. He was that talkative.

“So,” Lucas shifted his eyes to Jaehyun, “are you seeing someone?”

Jaehyun’s mind went to the random dates with Nina. He wasn’t sure if it was considered a date because he hasn’t asked Nina yet for an official, formal date. Jaehyun wanted to make sure if they both feel the same way. He was sure he had a crush on her and was one hundred percent in it to making their relationship forward.

“I have my eyes on someone,” Jaehyun answered directly.

“Can I know her name? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Even if I tell you her name, you don’t know her.”

“Oh, so, she’s not from our floor?”

“She’s not even in the dormitory.”

“Interesting. Is she your classmate? A friend in your organization? Your teacher?” Lucas dramatically gasped on his last guess.

“Funny, but no. I met her at a café when I was studying.”

“Ooh, a coffee shop romance. Is she pretty? Is she nice? Does she look like your ideal type?”

“She’s pretty. She’s nice. And I don’t have a specific ideal type so I wouldn’t know.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lucas,” Jaehyun sighed, defeated. He wanted to roll his eyes but he wouldn’t want to offend Lucas.

“She has the same name as me? I didn’t know Lucas can now be used as a girl’s name,” Lucas meant it as a tease.

“I’ll tell you later,” Jaehyun easily gave up. Lucas doesn’t know her anyways. It’s not like Lucas would tell on Nina his crush. They weren’t even friends.

Lucas smiled in victory. He knew he can get annoying and he can go lengths to get what he wanted.

“Let’s just go to another exhibit. Let’s go.” Jaehyun walked with Lucas following closely behind.


	11. (December;十二月)

The smell of scrambled eggs with butter was surrounding the whole common room. She had first cooked some Spam and now June was frying up some scrambled eggs, her favorite. She tried doing her eggs differently but she knew it wasn’t for her. Scrambled eggs were such a staple.

June caught the whiff of the door opening. “Morning, Jaehyun,” she said without even glancing at him. She was sure it was Jaehyun. They were back on their normal breakfast routine. “Good morning, June,” he greeted back.

“Scrambled eggs?” he peered over to what June was doing. “Yup, as usual.” June turns off the electric stove and grabs a plate. She put the egg on her plate and set it on the table. “Want some?” she offered. “No, thank you. I have my cereal.” Jaehyun shook his cereal box. He made a mental note to get some more boxes later.

“Any new happenings in your life?” June sliced her spam into bite-sized pieces with her fork. Spam was becoming her favorite breakfast along with scrambled eggs. “Maybe,” Jaehyun smiled, hinting something. June knew immediately what his smile meant. She can feel that a certain someone was hit by Cupid’s arrow.

She let her face paint a coy smirk. “Does Mr. Jung have a crush?”

Jaehyun was pouring milk out of the carton after he put his cereal on the bowl. She noticed Jaehyun was wearing his favorite navy-blue silk pajama set. He was the one who loved wearing set pajamas out of them six tenants. He radiated the aura of a president’s son, especially when he was in pajamas. She didn’t know why she thought of that.

“Yes,” Jaehyun admitted. He placed his bowl of cereal on the table, adjacent to June’s plate. He sat down and munched on his first spoon. “I have a crush on a friend.” He placed his spoon back in the bowl. June was just happy for him.

The door slightly squeaked open but then was shut close fast. June and Jaehyun haven’t got a good look on who might attempted to enter but they shrugged it off. “Maybe it was the wind,” June said. “Maybe,” Jaehyun thought back.

Taeyong gulped. Had Jaehyun not heeded out his warning? Taeyong was confused about what he felt. June was his ex. His ex. His brain emphasized two letters, E and X. Taeyong needed to put those in all caps, underline, and post in his bedroom door for him to digest it. June was his ex-girlfriend. His past. So why does he care if Jaehyun and June wanted to date? It should be none of his business but now he was sweating about it. He doesn’t know if he was jealous, angry, or it was a mix of different emotions. All he knew was that Jaehyun liked June, and June seemed to be fond of him, too.

He was about to get some breakfast from the common room. He forgot that June and Jaehyun had these breakfast sessions. Taeyong felt dumb. Confused and somewhat defeated, he went back to his room to secretly sulk.

Jaehyun liked June. June liked Jaehyun. Taeyong was out of the picture.

Or that was Taeyong thought.

“Ooh, who?” June asked. She wiggled her eyebrows. Jaehyun laughed. “Her name is Nina. I met her in the TaiNu café. She’s Taiwanese. She takes up European Studies and she wanted to live in Europe someday. She loves Greek mythology.” Jaehyun was adorable when he was talking about something that he was into. 

“Nina sounds lovely,” June commented. She was on her last Spam and she thought about cooking up another one. But then she remembered her mother’s words. Her mother would probably scold her on Skype if she saw June gaining some weight.

“She is lovely,” he grinned, stirring his cereal.

“Do you have any plans asking her out?”

“Yes, but I don’t have any clue if it will work out alright.”

It was a first. Jaehyun doubting his skills. Jaehyun not relying on himself. June liked seeing this side of him. It reminded her that he was human too and not a superhero.

“Nina’s a local, right? I know it’s impossible but take her to somewhere she hasn’t been yet. Give her a new experience. Make her see things in an international students point-of-view than a local’s perspective. I think it will work.” June put her plate and utensils in the sink. She let the water run down the stains of her plate.

“That’s a nice suggestion. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” He took another spoon of his cereal. His mind was finally made up.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

YouTube was suggesting another study mix on her homepage, but Frankie had listened to it before. She was having a minor crisis. Frankie was running out of study playlists.

She was the type of student that liked listening to instrumentals than songs with vocals with them whenever studying. It made Frankie focus more on what she was reading. Songs with vocals were too distracting for her. She tended to concentrate more on the singer’s voice than the words on the printed paper.

“Frankie,” Johnny tapped her shoulder. Frankie removed an earphone from her ear to listen to what he had to say. She was studying in Johnny’s room because she enjoyed some human presence while drowning herself in dozens of books and readings. Johnny was studying something, too. He told her earlier he had a quiz on music theory tomorrow.

Johnny handed his phone to her. Frankie just looked at it with curiosity. There were eight songs, some spanned three minutes, some spanned into six. There was no playlist art and the playlist’s name, Frankie study, was screaming in bold letters.

“I made you a study playlist because you said you were running out of 24/7 lo-fi hip-hop radio beats to chill, study, and relax playlists on YouTube,” Johnny poked fun of the playlists’ title. There was a clear abundance of those playlists in the site. How could Frankie ran out of those? There was even one playlist that lasted for nine hours.

“You made these songs? For me?” Frankie hadn’t noticed that she was hugging Johnny’s phone to her chest. “Uh,” Johnny scratched his nape, “I made those, yeah. But that songs were old, not uploaded on SoundCloud, been sitting on my laptop for too long, and I don’t know what to do with them. It fits your lo-fi hip-hop beats taste, though, so I figured that I compile those in a study playlist for you.”

“I thought I was special enough for you to make songs about me,” Frankie pouted, obviously joking. Still, she appreciated the thought and this could even be better than those YouTube playlists. Johnny made good music. “Sorry, you need to unlock three more hangouts for you to be special enough for me to make you a song,” he playfully pinched her nose.

This was what they loved about hanging out with each other. There was no drama, no lies, no secrets, and no façades. They could be themselves with each other and neither of them would judge. Being together was similar to the feeling of coming home for them.

“What level am I on then?” Frankie played along. “Let’s see,” Johnny pretended to think, “level 97,” he tickled Frankie’s weak spot near her knees. Some people have their tickle spot in their armpits, some in the soles of their feet, Frankie had hers on the knees. She was especially ticklish when you press her knee joints.

“Johnny! I’m trying to study,” she laughed uncontrollably. Johnny kept on tickling her, his hands went to places in her body for her other tickle spots. When their laughter died down, Frankie found herself in Johnny’s arms, her back leaning against his chest. She had felt his chest rising up and down and she found that so calming and relaxing.

Her hair smelled of lavenders and daisies. Frankie’s shampoo did the best job of keeping her hair smelling nice and leaving it soft. Johnny’s face was almost buried in Frankie’s hair. He might sound like a creep but he loved the smell of it.

“Let’s go to Boan 84 and study there, food is on me,” Frankie turned around to face his chest. She poked it with her finger and felt his hard pecs. She felt heat creeping at her cheeks at the thought of Johnny working out.

Johnny studied Frankie’s face. He was sure she was definitely one of the prettiest people he had ever seen. Her physical attributes matched her nice personality. Lucas would be the luckiest guy if they were to be an official couple.

“Food’s on you?” Johnny poked her forehead. Everything felt so bittersweet right now. Two confused people sharing a moment. “Yeah. But tease me one more time and you’ll be buying your own food,” she joked. Frankie sat down and started to put on her shoes. “Get ready, freak. Be prepared in two minutes or the offer’s off,” she laughed while tying her laces.

“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled and got a pair of sneakers from his shoe drawer. This was the highlight of his day. Free food and Frankie.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

His bed was so messy but Lucas’ mother was used to it. Lucas can keep everything clean except for his bed. He found blanket-folding too complicated. He had this logic where he reasoned that there was no use in fixing his bed if he was going to make a mess out of it when he goes to sleep. His mother never agreed with his reasoning.

“Have you been eating well, my son? Look at you you’re losing weight!” his mother blasted in Thai. His father somehow hated it when Lucas and his mother spoke Thai to each other. His father never knew how to speak it so, it annoyed him that he can’t understand what his wife and son were saying.

“I’m eating well, mæ̀. And I’m not losing weight. I think you just said that because you’re too far away from the screen.” Lucas sat on his bed. Mæ̀ was what he called his mother; Thai for ‘mom’. He called his father bàba, which was father in Chinese.

“Your father wanted to talk to you, too but he’s in work right now. You know his meetings last very long.” His mother adjusted her glasses. Lucas gave a simple nod. His father was a bit of a workaholic but he understood. Living in Hong Kong was not cheap. “How’s business, mæ̀?” he asked. His mother ran a Thai restaurant on Tsuen Wan West. It had been featured on blogs and business was booming. Even though he already knew it was going good, he still wanted to check up on it.

“It’s good! It’s doing well,” his mother grinned. Lucas was happy to hear that. He loved seeing his mother smile. “How’s your dating with Frankie doing?” His mother was supportive of whatever Lucas did and she had a good feeling with Frankie. His mother noticed how Lucas’ expressions shifted when he talked about Frankie. “We’re fine. She’s still not sure on me, I can feel that, but I’m gonna prove her wrong.” Lucas fell back on his bed.

If the technology allowed Lucas’ mother to pat him on the back, she would. “That’s my son,” she encouraged him. “And mæ̀, I’m sorry I won’t be home for Christmas and New Year, but I’ll be coming home on winter break.” Just the thought of him not being able to celebrate holidays with his family broke his heart but he knew this was a little sacrifice when he applied for the study abroad program.

“It’s okay, son. I’ll be sure to cook you lot of foods when you go back,” his mother looked at her back and smiled, “ah, your favorite cousin is here. Do you want to talk to him?” Lucas eyes lit up. He was going to FaceTime him after this but it was like the universe knew what he wanted to do.

“Jackson! Jackson! Lucas wants to talk to you,” his mother called from the background. Lucas heard tapping noises and then there he was, his favorite cousin, on the screen.

When he was young, he wanted to be like Jackson. Jackson was his role model and was partly responsible for his personality today. They were both loud, somewhat arrogant, and confident in what they did. They first bonded over rap and hip-hop when they were young. Jackson always wanted to be a rapper and his family were supportive of that although they still have dreams of him becoming a famous fencer. Today, Jackson rapped as a hobby and was practicing for the Asian Games. Fencing was his first love after all.

“Brooooo!” Jackson yelled at the screen. His face was too closed up, Lucas can see tiny details of his face. “Jacksooooon!” Lucas yelled back. If they saw each other in person, they would probably bro-fist.

“How’s life, dude?” Jackson’s voice was raspy and deep. He looked so happy in everything he did that sometimes he ended up looking like a dork. “It’s good. I’m good here. Everything’s going well,” Lucas declared. “Well, dating life?” Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Going places.” Lucas tried to mask his doubt with a smile but Jackson knew what was going on.

“Trouble?” he asked. Jackson positioned the phone on the table for him not to hold it with his hand. “Nah, it feels like—I can’t convince her to choose me. It’s like taking her a long time to decide and you know me, I’m confident, I’m strong, but sometimes she makes me doubt myself if she’s gonna be with me. Be together with me. I don’t know, I may be blabbering but it’s just how I feel,” Lucas sighed. He smoothed his forehead with his fingers. Wasn’t he good enough for Frankie?

Jackson sighed with him. He treated Lucas like a younger brother and he hated seeing him like this. Lucas was never worked up with girl stuff.

“How much do you like her?” Jackson asked. He wanted to analyze this.

“I like her so, so, so, very, very, very much.”

“Haven’t you thought of, maybe that you’re just infatuated with her? That you just have a deep crush?”

“I don’t know? Isn’t infatuation the starting base of relationships?”

“It differs. Depends on the couple. But you know, don’t you think maybe you’re just infatuated with her? Or lusting over her? Or you love the feeling she gives you? You love the chase?”

“I think that I like her. I didn’t know I have to categorize it. I just know that I like seeing her. Maybe this will lead to love who knows, right? Isn’t liking the starting point? You’re making me so confused right now.”

“I don’t know. I’m not really in your position to exactly feel what you’re feeling,” Jackson breathed, “try to ask her out for more dates. You’ll be clarified with what you’re feeling and she will be, too.”

“I would, definitely. I love dating her. I’m just running out of ideas. But if we were in Hong Kong, I can take her to my favorite places. Being here gives me some kind of disadvantage because I don’t know where to take her and I just have to rely on the internet for ideas.”

“Talk to a local! It’s not like you’re not friends with some locals, right?” Jackson knew Lucas was the type to easily make friends. It would be a miracle if he doesn’t have friends who are Taiwan locals. “I forgot that option existed. Thanks,” Lucas laughed. He was so worked up on everything, his mind somewhat narrowed down to only just a few choices.

“Good luck, ‘lil bro. Call me whenever you need help, okay?” Jackson took the phone and the video shook a bit. “Yeah, for sure.” Lucas adjusted his position. He was now leaning his back on the wall.

“I have to say goodbye now. Gotta help your mom bring some stuff to the restaurant.” Jackson gave a small salute. “Take care of her for me,” Lucas said his parting words. “And you take care of yourself for us,” with that, Jackson ended the call.

All that Lucas was left with was questions to the answers.  


	12. (December;十二月)

It doesn’t snow on Taiwan but it doesn’t mean that they did not feel like it was Christmas.

The six all gathered to the common room. They were all used to spending Christmas with their families, except for Taeyong, he told them that he was used to spending his holidays with friends or alone. He assured them that it wasn’t so bad. It was a different experience than being at home with your family.

Home Alone was playing on the TV, courtesy of Jaehyun’s Netflix account. They had voted unanimously on what to watch and Home Alone was everybody’s favorite Christmas film. They got cozy on the sofa, sipping mint hot chocolate and wearing snuggly sweaters. They weren’t blood-related, but they look like a family.

Jaehyun was beside Lucas when he noticed Lucas’ mint hot chocolate smelled different. He tried to subtly smell it but then Lucas took note of his actions. “It’s a combination of hot chocolate and vodka,” Lucas whispered. “This early, Lucas?” Jaehyun raised an eyebrow. Lucas only smiled and took another sip. If Jaehyun knew he added a tablespoon of vodka to everyone’s mint hot chocolate, he’ll be dead.

June’s phone pinged that made all of them stare at her. “The delivery’s outside, I’m just gonna get it,” she excused herself and put down her mug on the coffee table. The staring eyes did not follow her on the doorstep and instead focused on the movie in front of them.

Moments later, June came back with two buckets of fried chicken from KFC. She set it on the table and automatically, the others had all gathered around the dining table. Frankie was especially lusting on the chicken. It made her miss her family even more.

“KFC for Christmas? Very Japanese, right?” Lucas nudged Frankie’s arm. “Do the honors, Frankie. We know how you miss your family.” Jaehyun slide her a bucket. Frankie picked a drumstick chicken with one hand. She might look crazy right now but she didn’t care. She ate the chicken with tears coming out from her eyes. “This is my first Christmas without them,” she was still holding some tears in that made her throat hurt. Johnny rubbed her back, comforting her. She placed her drumstick down on the plate and wiped her tears away.

“It’s everyone’s first Christmas alone except for this guy.” Lucas’s thumb points to the guy beside him, Taeyong. Even though it’s Christmas, Taeyong was still his taciturn self. He continued to drink his hot beverage.

“This is my gift to you, Frankie. I know that you’ll have to share it with everyone but I just wanted to give you some piece of the home you’re missing.” June hugged Frankie. “Thanks, June,” she hugged her back. 

“I got you a little something, too.” Frankie pulled something out of the pocket of her onesie. It was a gift card worth 500 New Taiwan Dollars. “You deserve some new clothes.” Frankie handed the gift card to June. June felt the shiny coat of the card and kept it her pocket. “Thanks, Miyashiro,” she faced the others, “and as for you boys, you’ll get yours later.”

Lucas stormed out of the common room with Johnny also scrambling around, thinking of something. Jaehyun was his composed self and Taeyong continued drinking on his mint hot chocolate. “Is it just me or the drink tasted a little weird?” Johnny stopped pacing around. Taeyong put his mug on the table, “it does.”

The youngest of them all, Lucas, came back with wrapped gifts. He handed his gifts to each of them. June was the first one to open his gift. She was amused and at the same time, shocked, at what he gave.

“Socks?” June’s voice did not utter disappointment but it was pure amusement. With June’s revelation, all of them opened their gifts. Lucas gave them all a pair of socks—all of different designs but with the same ankle-length, except for Frankie, Frankie’s socks were plain grey, knee-high socks.

“Wow, at least this is useful.” Johnny felt the soft fabric of his music note-patterned socks. Lucas was pretty proud of what he did. He thought of functionality and versatility when he thought of giving gifts—his mind went to socks.

“I’ll send your gifts through your e-mails. You’ll gonna receive it tonight!” Johnny declared. He made a one-minute song for each person in the 14thfloor. He figured it would be more special if he gave something handmade and well-thought of.

“Your gifts from me are on your doorsteps. Retrieve it later,” Jaehyun announced, sitting with his legs crossed. He gave each one of them books, some biographies and some novels, and placed those books in their doormats. Jaehyun thought of Santa’s concept when he gave the gifts to them and arrived at the conclusion that leaving it on their doorsteps was the best idea. “Wow, are you out of chimneys?” Lucas joked. Jaehyun chuckled. It was exactly what he was going for and he was happy that Lucas got it.

Taeyong stood up and reached for the drawer. He got four, small, wrapped boxes from the first drawer and laid it out on the table. June’s eyes scanned the names on the written in permanent marker in the boxes—Frankie, Lucas, Johnny, and Jaehyun. There was none for her and she did admit that her heart sank. The four noticed it, too. June and Taeyong were still not on good terms even though it’s Christmas.

“Get yours,” he said on the four, his eyes obviously avoiding June. Luckily, June’s phone rang. She checked the caller ID, it was her parents calling her on an app. “I have to get this,” she pointed on her phone and went outside. The four got their presents but the room fell silent.

They wished Taeyong got June just something, a little something.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

It was 8pm and people were out.

The seven of them went to Raohe Street Night Market because there was nothing better to do at the dorm. They all have talked to their families and wished them a merry Christmas. It was nice spending Christmas with each other but they longed for a proper, home-cooked, Christmas food.

Frankie, Jaehyun, Johnny, and Lucas had cooked up some plan to make Taeyong and June talk. Frankie was up for it and Johnny was a little nervous but Lucas was sure it will work, Jaehyun suggested to make their execution good so that it will for sure do.

The traditionally-Chinese designed arch welcomed them. The smoke of grilling street foods filled their noses. Raohe Street Night Market might be narrow but the stall choices were long. Every corner offered one a fresh, new experience.

Frankie linked arms with Jaehyun. Even though Frankie and Jaehyun were doing things in a friendly way, Lucas can’t help but feel a little envy. He did not know he was that possessive and Frankie wasn’t his girlfriend yet.

“Hey, we’re going to get some pork sausages,” Frankie waved with her free hand. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting for some pork sausages, too,” Jaehyun nodded and they scurried away not waiting for some reply. Johnny slung his arm around Lucas. “We need to look for some new clothes, ain’t that right?” Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Yup, we need to go there,” Lucas pointed to a clothes boutique.

Johnny and Lucas left Taeyong and June alone. They just hoped that two somehow resolve their conflict.

Taeyong was quiet but he was with June with every step. The noise of their environment filled in the quietness the two brought. There were so many things running on both of their minds but they were too afraid to say it out loud.

June and Taeyong continued to walk straightly and aimlessly the narrow street. It had been five or ten minutes since the four left them but none of the two still uttered a single word to each other.

It was June who couldn’t take the quietness anymore. She heaved a sigh and opened her mouth. “Are you this cold-hearted, Taeyong?” she heard her heart broke when she popped that question. She knew deep inside her that no, Taeyong wasn’t this cold-hearted.

“You made me like this,” he answered in his low voice. June’s eyebrows met at the center, she was getting irritated and frustrated at the same time. She can’t help it. “Wow,” she sarcastically smiled, “and you still have the audacity to blame me!”

Her legs wanted to take her somewhere and it started moving on its own. She wanted to leave him and go somewhere, somewhere where she can’t see, hear, or feel Taeyong. She can’t believe he was putting the blame on her. _You made me like this?_ It was his decision to become whoever he was! He was in charge of his own personality!

As June’s feet where moving three steps away from him, Taeyong’s walls broke down. He was in the wrong with this, he admitted that to himself. Something unexpected came from Taeyong’s mouth.

“Stay.”

June stopped in her tracks, following his command. She turned around to face him. He looked broken and confused. “In the spirit of Christmas,” she exhaled, “I’ll stay.” June went back beside him, waiting for an explanation or a follow-up to his request. He only pulled something out of his pocket, her eyes piqued curiosity. Her heart started doing flip-flops.

It was a silver-chained necklace with a flower as a pendant. “I’ve been meaning to give this to you but I don’t know how.” Taeyong dangled the necklace in front of her. The flower was colored the lightest shade of pink and she noticed its details up-close—it was a magnolia. Her hands glossed over the pendant and she felt some carved lines on the back of the pendant, she turned it over to confirm what she felt. “Yùlán,” she read. On the back, the Chinese characters for magnolia was etched. Taeyong was never a romantic or at least, he did not consider himself as one, but whatever he did was romantic enough for June.

“Magnolia,” she was grinning from ear to ear, “you still remember my favorite flower.” Taeyong was bursting with feelings inside but somehow, he cannot convey it with his face. June had a glimpse of a shadow of his smile, though. “You are also similar with the magnolia flower,” Taeyong had finally shown a proper smile, “good, pure, and delicate.”

Taeyong’s description of the magnolia flower will forever be written on her mind. It was simple but it was memorable. Taeyong was not that good with his words but for June, it was that thing that made him relatable and human.

“Can you put it on me, please?” she handed Taeyong the necklace back and turned around. She gathered all of her hair on one side, perfectly exposing her nape. He put on the necklace on her, the cold feeling of the chain and the pendant making contact with her skin. Taeyong can’t help himself, he was restraining himself for too long. Locking the necklace, his body moved closer to June, he tilted his head and left a small, soft kiss on June’s temple. June was clearly taken-aback by his action but she did not protest. She waited for this to happen for the longest time.

He did not wait for her reaction and moved his mouth closer to her ear. “You should go date Jaehyun if you really want to. Fight for him,” he said in a whisper-like manner. That was where reality hit her heart. Her heart started to ache. Did Taeyong seriously thought she was pining on Jaehyun?

Taeyong felt a pang of hurt when he said those lines. He only wanted June to be happy even if it meant it was not with him. He truly believed June and Jaehyun were perfect for each other.

June turned around to face Taeyong. His face was perfectly and strongly sculpted, June longed to trace the edges of his jawline.

He doesn’t understand why June looked so baffled and wounded at the same time. Was it because of what he said? But he knew he meant well.

“What do you mean, Taeyong? What does Jaehyun had to do wi—”

June’s sentiments were cut short when they both heard Lucas shouting at the distance. “I got some new jacket!” Lucas was quickly approaching June and Taeyong, Johnny had his hand on his forehead as if he was dealing with a big problem. Lucas was definitely a kid inside. Johnny could only hope they did not cut in on a moment.


	13. (January;一月)

New Year was more fun if you spend it with friends. And they had only realized that last night.

Lucas snuck in some drinks, beer and vodka. Jaehyun and Johnny pitched in for six boxes of pizza, June and Frankie ordered two buckets of fried chicken, and Taeyong offered that he will be the one to clean all the mess.

There was less tension going between Taeyong and June now and they noticed that June was wearing this magnolia necklace every day. It seemed that the two somehow made up.

Since they heard that the new year’s fireworks in Taipei 101 was a must-see, they decided to near Taipei 101’s vicinity to witness the new year fireworks display. They all were drinking bottled milk teas from Family Mart while watching the sparks lit up the sky. The sweet concoction of dairy and tea was meeting with the booze and grease they ate earlier.

It was as beautiful as they had imagined. The fireworks were grand and screamed welcome to a new chapter in their lives. Being far from their families wasn’t as lonely anymore.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Studio Ghibli movie knowledge was something that Frankie doesn’t have. She had only watched Howl’s Moving Castle and had not watched some popular ones like My Neighbor, Totoro and Princess Mononoke. That’s why she can’t get some references when she and Lucas went to Jiufen the day after new year.

Jiufen looked so different from the main streets of Taipei. In here, it was peaceful, somewhat cold, and overall quiet. There were souvenir shops that mostly sold Studio Ghibli items, stalls selling packed nougats and pineapple cakes, and of course, street food stands.

“I had reserved us a seat in the famous tea house here. I’m so great.” Lucas was walking upwards the stairs. Frankie followed his lead. Lucas did most of the talking today. He was really excited in going to Jiufen. First, because he heard the place was great. Second, he wanted to impress Frankie. “I took you on a date today because I wanted to start the new year right,” Lucas was always the charmer.

“I learned it was Miyazaki’s inspiration for Spirited Away,” he clearly did his research. In his mind, Frankie had watched all the Studio Ghibli movies because she was from Japan. It made sense, right?

“I haven’t watched Spirited Away,” Frankie admitted. They were now walking side-by-side, hands swaying, feet movement rhythmically matching each other’s. “I only watched it once but the tea house is the main destination here in Jiufen,” Lucas said. “Not a fan of Ghibli, eh?” he added.

Frankie nodded her head. There was one time she got a backlash from her friend just because she had only watched one Ghibli movie. “I’m okay with it, I’m just really not familiar with it. Can’t say I love it, but I can’t also say I hate it,” she stated. “So, you don’t like animation?” Lucas had always saw her as a Ghibli fan in his mind, he doesn’t really know why. The correlation of her living in Japan and watching a lot of Ghibli movies suddenly doesn’t make sense.

“I love Pixar films,” she declared.

There were a lot of Chinese lanterns hanging everywhere in Jiufen. She doesn’t know why but Frankie was instantly reminded of New York’s Chinatown even though she never went there.

“Toy Story is my favorite—oh wait, I love Up and Inside Out, too,” she giggled, “you can never have a Pixar favorite.” “I actually have a Pixar favorite,” Lucas lifted his finger as if saying a prophecy, “Cars.”

Frankie snorted at his Pixar film choice, “lame.” She meant that as a joke. “Hey! Cars is great!” Lucas defended. It seemed like he didn’t take the hint that she was just kidding.

“Guess you can relate to Lightning McQueen, huh?” she teased. “I like his character,” Lucas answered briefly. Both stopped on their tracks. Lucas’s eyes scanned the signboard written in Chinese characters—A Mei Tea House.

They both noticed that the stairs were made of wood upon entrance. The stairs made a little creak every time they made a step. Weird-looking masks were hung on the wall creating a somewhat eerie vibe on the tea house. There were collectibles of Spirited Away characters on a shelf near the entrance.

Frankie and Lucas got a window seat on the outdoor area. The view was relaxing and the air was fresh. Frankie noticed that the table beside them was housing Japanese tourists, presumably a couple. She watched as the waitress communicated with the tourists using Japanese. She missed speaking her language.

She felt Lucas’s hands on top of hers. Frankie looked at their hands then shifted on his smiling face. “I really like you, Frankie. I do,” he confessed. She felt guilt eating her up. Was she stringing him along? Did she raise his hopes up too much? She was so confused and don’t know what to do. There was something holding her back and she was not sure what it was.

Frankie didn’t know what to say. She can’t deny the attraction but she wasn’t sure if attraction was enough to sustain a healthy, functioning relationship. “You know my plan, right?” she opened. Lucas nodded, still not letting go of her hands. The thought of moving too fast crossed his mind.

“I can’t say my answer right now,” she sighed, “But it doesn’t mean that I don’t like you. I still want to keep my promise to myself that I can’t have any love lines while studying here in Taiwan.” Frankie bit her lip. She doesn’t want to cause Lucas any harm. Hurting him wasn’t one of her intentions. “But I promise to think about it hard,” she gave him a close-lipped smile.

“Okay,” Lucas exhaled. “I just hope you choose me in the end,” he was rubbing Frankie’s knuckles, “because I am a hundred percent confident you will,” he ended his statement with a wink.

In his self-assured exterior, he can’t help but think if he wasn’t enough for Frankie for her to be an exception to her plan. But he must not show his worry. When he was young, he was shy. His mother and father, along with Jackson, pushed him to be more open and be more assertive. Lucas was a product of fake it until you make it philosophy and he will stick up for it.

“Cocky, aren’t you?” Frankie laughed. “Well, I have something to be cocky about,” he raised his shoulders. Of course, after years and years of faking confidence, the confidence became real and he learned what he was worth.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

There was this café they had always wanted to try but never had the time to. Today, it finally happened.

Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Johnny went out and ordered some iced coffees and pastries. It felt more solemn and quiet as Lucas was not there to make some noise or open a conversation. They don’t want to say it out loud but Lucas was a great company and definitely completed their brotherhood.

It was this time Johnny wished Lucas was here. He was the one catching all the unspoken tension between Jaehyun and Taeyong, Taeyong especially was sending small, secret daggers to Jaehyun with his sharp eyes. As Johnny was sipping his coffee on the straw, the unexpected happened.

“Do you like June?” Taeyong asked, obviously directed to Jaehyun who was sitting opposite him. Johnny moved his head to Taeyong sitting beside him. He wanted to slump on his seat and disappear. He had always avoided conflict and drama, and now it was about to happen in front of him. Johnny made slurping sounds with his drink and straw to alert the two that he was there and not to start a fight. The tea was about to be spilled.

Jaehyun was surprised but he was still calm. He stirred his iced coffee with the straw, “no,” he truthfully answered, “where did you get that idea?” He lifted his head up to meet Taeyong’s eyes. Jaehyun couldn’t describe what his eyes conveyed but he was sure it has jealousy and protectiveness on it.

“I took a liking to one of my friends. Her name’s Nina Tien. She’s Taiwanese and is also from TaiNu,” he took a small slice of his blueberry cheesecake, “but if you’re still holding on to that accidental kiss we shared. It meant nothing. I may have had a little crush on June on the first week but it disappeared quickly seeing how hung up she still is on you. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Johnny sipped on his iced coffee even louder. He hoped not to witness his friends punching each other in a café because of a girl. He wanted to get out and for Jaehyun and Taeyong to sort things out.

Taeyong broke in a smile that Johnny can’t classify if it was sincere or scary. “Ah,” his head was nodding, it finally all clicked, “that’s why she reacted like that.” Taeyong remembered June’s facial expression when he told her on Christmas day that it’s okay to date Jaehyun. June and Jaehyun were never a thing. He just assumed all of that. It was clear as day. He was worked up over nothing.

And that was how he admitted to himself that he still loved her.

“Umm, guys?” Johnny began standing up, “I will take a stroll for just a minute, I’ll come back again when you sort things out. It looks like you two needed some time al—”

“No,” Jaehyun and Taeyong both said unison. Johnny instantly went back to sit.

Taeyong exhaled. He needed to clear the air completely between him and Jaehyun. He guessed Jaehyun and him both had the same idea that Johnny can act like a mediator when things go south.

“Fine. I’ll tell you both why June and I broke up.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

June hadn’t had the time to fix her blueprints when the holidays were so close to each other. She needed time to relax and re-energize before she dived into her work. Completing her break on the holidays, she already spent five hours fixing her blueprint today.

She rolled her blueprint and placed her pencils and eraser on the side of her working table. She was almost done but she needed some refresher. June was craving for an iced Americano and some freshly-baked croissant. With that, she headed down to TaiNu café.

It was the weekend but students were still studying here. It was hard being a student, especially if you were the one wanting to achieve a high grade. Everybody’s motto was ‘rest is for the weak’.

In the farthest corner of her eye, June spotted Nina. The same Nina Jaehyun was talking about, the Nina that Jaehyun liked. Nina was with a boy, obviously Taiwanese and attractive. June can’t help but think bad of the situation. It was like her instinct. She made a mental note to approach her later after the boy had left and she had got her orders.

The same time June got her orders, the boy with Nina left. Weirdly, they did not do anything suspicious like a peck on the cheek or a chaste kiss on lips. They just said goodbye to each other like normal people did. June was ready to let it go when Nina called her.

Nina let June approach her on her table. There was two, thick, books laid down on her table. Her drink was half-finished and whatever she ate were just now crumbs, a reminder of what those used to be.

“I can see you eyeing me earlier,” Nina was playing with a coy smile on her lips. June was so obvious in spying. A career in FBI was definitely an out for her. “I can see your intentions. I know you care about Jaehyun, but don’t worry, the guy earlier with me is my cousin. Jaehyun knows him,” she added. She was cool about everything. The way she said it had no negative undertone, no threats. She was just really explaining her side.

“I’m sorry for my suspicions or for thinking badly of your actions.” June apologized. Nina gestured for her to sit down which June did, her engineering blueprint can wait.

“I like Jaehyun, too,” she drank her coffee, “and I was jealous of you.”

June was flabbergasted at Nina’s declaration. Was she too blind or naïve? Had Jaehyun really liked her?

“Why?” the shock was apparent in June’s voice. Nina laughed. It was evident she didn’t know Jaehyun’s past feelings towards her. Nina took another sip of her coffee and just like that, the mug was empty. “Jaehyun told me he had a crush on you on the first week but it dissipated quickly when he felt you still have feelings for Taeyong. He didn’t want to get in the way and besides, he told me he thought that you weren’t that compatible with each other,” Nina stated.

“So, you know about the kiss?”

“Yeah, I know about the kiss. Jaehyun told me about that, too.”

June gulped and prayed to the gods for a clear answer. “Do you know if that kiss had meant something on his part?”

Nina smiled. She knew the answer. But she doesn’t want to be the one to say it.

“You have to talk to Jaehyun personally for that,” she suggested. Nina wanted Jaehyun and June to have an open, personal conversation about their feelings. It was all in the past. Jaehyun used to have a crush on June but Nina wanted for them to clarify the air.

June looked at Nina’s eyes. She can see why Jaehyun took a liking in her. Nina was a girl-next-door type. “Well, you should know, Jaehyun likes you, too, if you can’t tell, that is. Highlight on the word ‘likes’, it’s present tense,” June reassured her. “Jaehyun’s a good guy, really, and I believe you’ll be good for him, too. You’d make a nice couple,” she continued. “Thanks,” Nina beamed at her warmly, “I appreciate it.”


	14. (January;一月)

Lucas turned twenty today. He promised to treat his friends out tonight but he just wanted to be with Frankie for the rest of the afternoon. Lucky for him, Frankie wasn’t busy. But even though she was, he still wouldn’t take no for an answer.

He took Frankie to bike in the Crescent Bridge in Xinzhuang District. Lucas had heard some of his classmates biked in the area and he had been told that they enjoyed it. For his birthday, he wanted to do something a bit more leisurely than adrenaline-pumping.

Frankie was a better biker than Lucas. Biking used to be her main form of transportation when she was in middle school. Her school was near their house in Japan and rather than walk, she would take her bike like many of her classmates did. She started riding the train when she changed schools in high school and college.

“You don’t bike enough in Hong Kong, I bet,” Frankie was in front of Lucas. She did not hesitate to slow down so Lucas can catch up. “This is supposed to be cool and chill,” Lucas furrowed his eyebrows but released a laugh, “and here I thought I was the competitive one. This is not a competition, Frankie.” It sounded like a plea. Please don’t defeat me on my birthday.

“I’m not even doing anything,” Frankie insisted that she was not that fast. Lucas quickly caught up to Frankie’s pace. “Sike,” he smiled, “I’m winning now.” Frankie pedaled a little slower, trailing behind him, “I thought you said this wasn’t a competition.” She heard Lucas laughed in front of her.

Frankie got off the bike and rested her legs by walking. The bridge was reflected by the water. There were more locals than tourists hanging out in the area and those locals were mostly biking or strolling.

“I think this looks even more beautiful at night,” Frankie referred to the bridge. It was a pity they couldn’t go here at nighttime but nevertheless, the place was still beautiful. Lucas pressed the brake of the bike, got off, and walked, with his two hands still on the handles. “And I think you look beautiful every time,” the romantic Lucas was back.

She pouted. “Cheesy.” But Frankie’s blush on her cheek said otherwise.

Lucas spotted a YouBike kiosk terminal, he slide the bike in there, and did the same for Frankie’s bike. He swiped the EasyCards to complete the return process. He faced Frankie who was now taking pictures of the scenery. He decided to have a little fun. Lucas went to the camera’s direction and strike a Justin Bieber-esque pose.

“Lucas,” Frankie laughed but capturing the pictures perfectly. Lucas attempted to be silly and funny in his poses but he still managed to look handsome. “I hate it that you still look good,” Frankie commented, exiting her camera app as Lucas jogged toward her.  
“Wong never looks ugly, baby,” he pressed his nose against Frankie’s forehead and then, that’s where he noticed, when Frankie shifted to her Instagram account. Jealousy filled his heart.

His finger pressed Frankie’s home button to double-check what he saw. And sure enough, his eyes did not betray him. Frankie looked at him in a weird way like he was snooping in her stuff.

“Wow. Why do you have Johnny as your home screen?” his voice echoed his suspicion and possessiveness. Frankie’s picture was a picture of doodled picture of Johnny resting his head on one hand, complete with drawn cat ears and music notes on the side, while he was making music on his laptop; the opened Lounge Lizard software was a dead giveaway on what he was doing. Frankie never tried to hide the fact that Johnny was her home screen, she did not see anything wrong with it. “Well, it’s an inside joke,” she explained nonchalantly. Without a single thought, Lucas grabbed her phone and changed her home screen from Johnny’s picture to his picture that was just taken minutes earlier. “Lucas! That’s my phone!” Frankie tried to get it from him but Lucas was just too damn tall. “You don’t have any permission to change it!” she still wiggled her hands in the air. Lucas was too stubborn to listen and when he handed back her phone, it was his picture as the home screen.

“Why do you need to do this?” Frankie was not showing her anger. She needed to control herself. It was his birthday after all. “Don’t you like it?” he sighed, “if you don’t like it, you can change it, just keep it for today as part of your birthday gift to me.”

“You could’ve asked nicely,” Frankie decided to keep it and locked her phone. She put it back on her body bag. Lucas just scoffed. He hated the way he acted but he can’t exactly control it. It was like reflex.

“Tell you what,” he faced Frankie, “change the lockscreen when you have an answer already.” “What do you mean?” she raised an eyebrow but interested on what he was going on. “You told me that you are going to think about me asking you to be my girlfriend, right? When you’re ready, show me your home screen. You can change it to the guy you like if you say no, retain that if you say yes. Deal?”

“Deal,” Frankie smiled and lent out her hand. She was waiting for Lucas to shake it but instead Lucas came closer to hear and kissed the top of her head.

“Thank you for the gift,” Lucas breathed. Frankie had chills in her spine. She felt Lucas’s chin rest on the top of her head.

The sun was slowly setting and they both knew it was time to face the others. Lucas smiled at the sensation he felt, “let’s go back, Frankie.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

“Here are the demos.” The black USB in Johnny’s left hand shined as June opened her door. “Have you thought about it?” he followed up. His hair was looking fluffier than ever. June figured he had been just combing back his hair all day and messing it up.

“Come in,” June had not directly answered his question but she was sure of her decision. Johnny did what he was told. She hoped her yes to Johnny’s proposal was evident in her action.

June motioned for Johnny to sit on her bean bag which Johnny found so comfortable. His body sank perfectly on the water bed feel of the bean bag. “Is the inside of this water?” he stood up and sank back again. “I never really knew. I just bought it impulsively because it’s so jelly-like,” June sat on her desk chair which was covered in pink, fluffy rugs.

“I knew it,” Johnny smiled, feeling his body sink once more. He should get one of this.

June lent her hand out, motioning for Johnny to give her the USB. His hand reached out and handed the drive. June plugged it on her computer, put on her headphones, and clicked on the first track. Her feet naturally tapped to the beat. She can’t deny, Johnny was a good producer. This track was title track material.

Johnny knew June was impressed but he did not want to be cocky. He was just happy that June was at awe at his skills. Johnny saw June smile and move her head to the beat, then she giggled. “Who are the lyrics for, huh? A special someone?” she teased but still enjoying the music.

“First, I suck at singing. I’m glad you don’t make comments on that. A demo is a demo for a reason. Second, I don’t have a special someone,” Johnny stated, his head facing the ceiling. “You are not bad at singing but I’m not going to say you’re very good either,” she looked in Johnny’s direction, “don’t deny it. This is obviously for a special someone.”

“Can’t I just be inspired?”

“Inspired by a special someone, am I right?”

“Ugh, fine,” he threw his hands in defeat, “I may have a small crush on someone.”

“Small?” June cheekily smiled.

“Fine. A crush.”

“Who’s the girl? Or the boy? Or the person?”

“I liked how you didn’t assume that it definitely wasn’t an animal.”

“So, who?”

Johnny sighed. He wasn’t informed it was ‘open feelings’ hour.

“I’ll tell you when I’m ready,” he exhaled a hard another one, “I don’t know what am I feeling, really, as of now. It’s all kinda blurry, you know? I just need time to clarify what these means—what are these that I feel. And I promise. You’ll be the first one to know her name.”

“Oh, so a her?”

Johnny nodded. June kept her cheeky, knowing smile. She had a feeling who Johnny’s crush was but of course, she wasn’t going to say to him her hunch on who she was.

“By the way, if you didn’t get the hint. Count me in on your project EP.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

A song by a Taiwanese artist was blasting on the café’s speakers. The song was perfect as a café music—it was cool and calm and evoked the feeling when you have a first sip of your coffee.

Jaehyun and Nina were studying on the same table, as usual. Jaehyun was having an earl grey tea and Nina had a coffee with a little creamer. Nina haven’t opened her encounter with June yet and she was ready to say it now.

“June and I talked three days ago,” Nina’s eyes were not leaving her book. “And?” Jaehyun said. She lifted her head to see if Jaehyun was looking at her but his eyes were fixed on his readings.

“Did the kiss had a meaning on your part?” she asked, straightforwardly. She decided that if their relationship was going forward, they needed to be open and honest with each other. No secrets.

It didn’t take long before Jaehyun answered. “None.”

He finally lifted his head and looked at her, he was being sincere with his actions and his words. “No, it did not mean a thing. It was an accident,” he paused, “you do know I had a crush on her, right? Even though I had that kind of feelings in that past, that kiss just felt wrong. It was an accident. That kiss felt like I took advantage of her and she on me. That guy, that night, was not me. It was all kinds of wrong.” Nina reached to leave a pat on his back.

“I understand, I understand,” she consoled and went back from semi-squatting to sitting on her seat. He was telling the truth. You can see the honesty in his eyes.

She then took another sip of her coffee.

“Would you kiss me?”

She then felt a cough rising and heard Jaehyun standing up. Had she embarrassed herself way too much? But then she must stick to this be ‘open and honest with each other’ philosophy.

Jaehyun was now beside her and rubbing her back, comforting her. “I think you need some water,” he said in his worried voice. Most people will just laugh at her action but Jaehyun was not most people.

Her coughing finally stopped. “I just choked,” Nina relaxed herself in her seat. She caught a glimpse of Jaehyun’s smile. “You made me nervous,” he chuckled.

She closed her eyes. She wanted to take back all that had happened. Was Jaehyun’s impression of her changed?

“About that kiss,” he cleared his throat, “let’s first study then if we both get a perfect score on our tests, that kiss will happen.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Turns don’t have the ability to make him dizzy anymore. But feelings still did.

Taeyong drowned himself in dancing and Debussy’s Arabesques, L. 74: No. 1. He was moving to a choreography he made. He hadn’t shown it to others and was earning some more courage to perform it in front of his teacher.

He started doing the choreography to this when he first started seeing June so a lot of moves and routines in this dance was inspired by his feelings and attitude towards June.

June—he would admit, was still special. And it took him a lot of guts and courage to confess that. Taeyong still cared for her. Heck, maybe he still loved her. A lot.

When the song ended, Taeyong still didn’t know what to do.


	15. (January;一月)

“Lucas, if you don’t stop eating,” Frankie downed another gulp of Lucas’s drink, “you’ll be late for your flight.” Lucas rolled his eyes and put another bite of sandwich into his mouth, “and I don’t know why you aren’t helping me,” he meant that to all of the persons in the table. They all just laughed. There wasn’t that much food left to help him finish it.

Johnny and Frankie, along with Nina, sent Jaehyun and Lucas to the airport. Jaehyun was going back to Korea for ten days, so as Lucas to Hong Kong for the same amount of days. It was winter break and they finally got to go home. Everyone in the fourteenth floor was going back home to their respective countries except for Johnny and Frankie.

Lucas clapped his hands together, letting some crumbs fall to his jeans. He dusted off those crumbs and finally stood up. He was done eating; this was the time they were going to say goodbye temporarily to each other. Lucas wondered how it would feel like when the time of their stay ends.

Nina and Jaehyun’s hands were subtly brushing each other, swaying, every time they walk. Jaehyun mustered up all the courage he had inside of him and held her hand firmly. Nina looked down at their hands, now holding. His hands felt a little rough but the sensation was so soft. Her heart did a happy dance inside.

The three noticed Nina and Jaehyun’s romantic action as the two were walking in front of them and they were tailing. Lucas nudged Frankie’s arm and pointed to Nina and Jaehyun’s holding hands. He was hinting that they should hold hands, too. Frankie pulled a disgusted look that made Johnny laugh so hard. Lucas clutched his chest and pretended that his heart hurt. The three couldn’t keep it anymore and released a good amount of laughter. Nina and Jaehyun turned around to see what’s going on and found the three almost in their knees.

“We’re sorry,” Frankie said between laughs, “carry on, carry on.” “Don’t mind us,” Johnny wiped a tear from his eye. Lucas was gasping for air because of laughing too much. Jaehyun’s friends were weirdos.

The five arrived in Jaehyun’s station, the three said their goodbyes to Jaehyun and looked for Lucas’s station. They had left him alone with Nina.

“I’ll be back as soon as you know it,” Jaehyun assured Nina.

“You know, I got a hundred on my test,” she smiled.

“Really?” Jaehyun’s dimples were showing, “well, me too.”

He stepped closer to Nina and brushed some hair out of her eyes. Jaehyun always noticed how Nina’s eyes were the nicest shade of brown. If eyes can hypnotize, Jaehyun would be in a spell.

Jaehyun leaned in closer, his face a fewer inches from hers than before. Nina closed her eyes slowly and anticipated Jaehyun’s soft lips on hers. This was going to be an airport kiss. Nina thought this only happened in romance-comedy films and never would’ve expected this will happen in her lifetime.

“Hey! Nina! We are—”

The supposed kiss did not happen, no thanks to Johnny who waved at them. Nina and Jaehyun pulled away each other with Nina as red as a tomato. She was now staring at the floor awkwardly and Jaehyun trying to avoid her gaze. If it wasn’t for Johnny, it could’ve had happened.

Johnny silently cursed himself for ruining a moment. Frankie just laughed all the awkwardness out.

“Anyways, I think I should go to my gate now,” Jaehyun looked at his watch. Nina nodded. “I’ll see you in two weeks, perhaps?” Nina made tiny circles with her foot. “I’ll see you in two weeks,” Jaehyun assured and kissed her cheeks.

After Jaehyun left, Nina touched her cheek and once again blushed.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The knocks from Taeyong’s door turned out from June. She wanted to visit him before she goes home to Singapore.

Taeyong was clearly packed for the break. Half of his luggage were presents for his parents and sisters. He let June sit on his bed as he zipped his bag.

“I never liked Jaehyun that way,” June straightforwardly said. She wanted to clear the misunderstanding. But I always loved you that way, she had been wanting to add. Taeyong patted his bag, stood it up, and pulled up the handle. “I know, Jaehyun told me.”

June shot him a confused look but Taeyong just smirked. “Jaehyun and I had talked. I had heard his side and he has heard mine. It’s alright.” He sat beside June. Their skin wasn’t even a bit touching but they felt electricity all over them.

She placed her hand in top of his and squeezed it. “I still love you, Lee Taeyong.” June’s voice was firm and sure. Taeyong knew she was so sincere that he cracked a smile. She hasn’t seen it for so long.

“I still love you too but I’m afraid that you’ll hurt me again,” Taeyong admitted. He placed June’s hands in his palms and intertwined his fingers with hers. He felt all was well in the world again.

“Give me another chance again?” she traced Taeyong’s jawline and turned his head to her direction, “please?” June placed her head on Taeyong’s shoulders and inhaled his scent, “it’ll be different this time.”

He exhaled. Taeyong subtly sniffed June’s hair. He can’t believe it. This was her next to him and it just felt so right, all he had to do for this to happen every time was to say yes. He smiled and placed his chin on June’s resting head in his shoulders, “okay, let’s start over once we get back from the winter break.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The fourteenth floor was silent, save for a Daft Punk song blasting on Johnny’s speakers. Johnny and Frankie were munching on rice burgers and drinking milk teas from Comebuy, the two’s favorite Taiwanese milk tea chain.

“I forgot to ask you,” Johnny crumpled the thin Styrofoam-like covering of his rice burger, “why won’t you be going back to Japan for the winter break?” “My parents will be visiting me here in Taiwan the day after tomorrow, so no need to go home. They’re only staying for three days, though,” Frankie chewed on the pearl of her milk tea. “You? Why aren’t you going home to the States?” she threw the question back at him.

“You see,” he sipped from his cup, “U.S. is too far from Taiwan. I’d rather spend my 18 hours of flight time in bed. And that’s only a one-way trip so me going back from Chicago to Taipei would be another 18 hours. Also, the plane ticket is too expensive for a ten-day stay. Better to make the best out of staying here.”

“Point,” Frankie sipped from Johnny’s drink.

Johnny cutely pouted, “you have your own.”

“Yeah, in a different flavor. I just want to see how yours taste.”

“Fine.”

They were silent for a while until the song ended. Frankie nudged Johnny’s arm. It was so comfortable being with him—chilling in his bed with his playlist on the speakers, playing, eating food, and just being with each other. It made them both feel kind of warm.

“Yeah?” Johnny turned to look at her. Every time he has the chance to look at her face up close, he never failed to notice how pretty Frankie was. She lifted her head to meet his eyes, at sitting position, he was still tall. “Can I stay in your room for a night?”

“Sure,” Johnny answered. Frankie smiled at him and poked him on the arm as a way of thanks. “Just get your pillows and stuff in your room. I won’t be sharing mine,” he stated. “As if I would want to hug your pillow,” Frankie joked.

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

In the first two nights that Frankie and Johnny were the only tenants that remained in the fourteenth floor, Frankie had slept in Johnny’s room. She felt extra lonely being alone in her room and figured being in a same room with another human being can help her forget it. And she was right, it did.

She didn’t know why but Johnny was the one using her pillows and she was the one using Johnny’s. They slept with their own stuff in the night but somehow end with each other’s pillows in the morning. At least that’s what happened on the second night.

On the first night, Johnny slept on the floor even though it was his room. He felt he was violating Frankie’s personal space if he slept next to her, also, even though they were close, he still wanted to be a gentleman. On the second night, he caved in when Frankie questioned him why he slept on the floor. Frankie had a full trust he wouldn’t take advantage of her. Johnny had also trusted Frankie that she won’t do funny stuff with him.

Her alarm rung on exactly 8 am. It was time to get ready. Her parents told her they will be visiting her at her dorm on 10 in the morning. Frankie stretched her arms and turned off her alarm. Before going back to her room to freshen up, she stared at the sleeping figure beside her.

Johnny’s face was peaceful. Frankie thanked the gods that he wasn’t a snorer. He wasn’t also the one to randomly switch position often times at night. He was the sleeping buddy anyone would dream of.

She wanted to touch his face. Even sleeping, he was still handsome, some of his hair falling off to his forehead. Frankie remembered Johnny’s habit of pushing back his hair whenever, wherever. She felt something in her tummy as her brain played a montage of Johnny combing back his hair and all the times she had witnessed it. Frankie felt a blush coming. He was just so cute and he doesn’t even know it.

Frankie slowly removed her blanket and put on her slippers. She quietly opened the door in success. She was proud of herself that she didn’t woke him up.

It was 10 in the morning when the two saw each other again. Johnny was all dressed up so as Frankie. They were watching TV in the common room. All of them in the fourteenth floor weren’t avid TV watchers but when they do watch, they just settle for a music station playing different kinds of music videos.

“Where are you going?” Frankie asked. She was the one holding the remote. “I will date myself today,” Johnny said, his eyes were going back to Frankie no matter how hard he tried to fixate himself to watch. He would never get tired of her face.

“That’s nice,” Frankie nodded. She crossed her fingers that Johnny didn’t notice she was stealing glances from him. She knew they were just friends but it was his fault that he looked so good.

Frankie’s phone rang. She turned off the TV and answered it. After saying hello that was followed by three consecutive ‘okays’, the call ended. “My parents are in the lobby,” she stood up, “do you want to go down with me?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll leave when you’re leaving,” he dusted some imaginary dust from his pants, combed his hair back, and waited for Frankie to leave so he’ll be the one to close the door while Frankie held the elevator door for him.

His thoughts lingered on what would Frankie’s parents look like. Her parents must be so good-looking because Frankie turned out to look like a goddess. Before he could get into details, their lift arrived in the lobby in no time.

Turns out, he was right. Frankie’s mother was a spitting image of a beautiful Filipina actress he had encountered on a news site and her father could pass off as Shun Oguri’s uncle because of how similar their facial features were. He also noticed that her parents were looking at him, both with their heads lifted up. He was tall, alright.

“Ma, Pa, this is Johnny,” Frankie faced Johnny who turned shy in front of her parents, “Johnny, this is my mama and my papa.” “Ah Frankie, he’s handsome,” her mother said, honestly impressed with Johnny’s features. Johnny turned shyer, if that was possible.

“We heard good things about you,” Frankie’s mother shook Johnny’s hands then her father followed the same gesture. Johnny wondered if Frankie actually told her parents about him or her mother was just being polite. “Where are you headed to, son?” Frankie’s father asked him. He was a little rattled that he called him son. Son. Frankie’s father was definitely not the scary type.

“I’m planning to explore some of the city alone, sir,” Johnny answered back in a mannerly tone. “Nonsense,” her father shook his head, “join us for lunch.” “Yes, please do,” her mother smiled. Frankie tugged at his sleeves, a coy way of saying ‘please’. “If it’s alright with you, ma’am, sir,” he said shyly and hung his head low. “Of course, a friend of Frankie’s is also our child,” her father stated with her mother agreeing to it. “And please don’t call us ma’am and sir, you can call us auntie and uncle,” Frankie’s mother remarked.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

It was like Johnny was instantly part of the Miyashiro family. From lunch, he had learned about embarrassing stories from Frankie’s childhood, Frankie’s adventure with her younger brother, Max, and other things they haven’t talked about yet. Johnny insisted on paying half but of course, the Miyashiros refused. Frankie’s parents noted how cute Johnny and Frankie’s relationship was.

“So,” Frankie’s mother was reapplying her lipstick. Frankie and her mother were sharing some little mother-daughter time on the lavatory. Frankie was washing her hands and sprayed some water on the glass when she dried her hands. “When will I meet the other one?” her mother giggled.

Frankie raised an eyebrow, “what another one?” Her mother smiled teasingly, the muted pink color coating her lips perfectly, “you know? The other one? From Hong Kong? Lucas?” Frankie laughed at the mention of Lucas’s name. Her mother definitely knew all of her Taiwan adventures. They kept no secrets from each other and Frankie was open with her mom about her problems.

“Mama,” Frankie continued on laughing, “he went home for the break.” Her mother pressed her lips, “ah, so I won’t see him?” “I don’t know, let’s see,” Frankie smiled. “But, you know, this man, Johnny, he’s a catch. I’m all for him. I like him for you,” her mother linked arms with Frankie, exiting the lavatory. “Ma, we aren’t even dating! We are just close friends!” Frankie retorted. Still, her mother remained skeptic. She shook her head, “we’ll see about that.”

 

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Taipei 101 will always have a special place on Johnny and Frankie’s heart. It was the place they first established their friendship. And after months of their first visit, here they were again.

Frankie’s parents, being tourists, wanted to see Taiwan’s pride and joy. Johnny and Frankie agreed to take them up there and give them a little tour. Frankie’s parents excused themselves as to see the view with just each other. That left Frankie and Johnny with themselves.

They found the space they both sat on when they first went here. The view hasn’t changed one bit. It was still spectacular and breathtaking.

“You know, it just crossed my mind,” Frankie trailed off. Johnny looked at her direction, “hmm?” “That we haven’t talked about your love life,” Frankie continued. She wasn’t afraid or iffy about opening the subject. They were that close already.

“What do you want to know?” Johnny chuckled. “For your information, I haven’t dated anyone since moving here to Taipei,” he pushed his hair back again. “But I had only like dated three girls in my whole life. It was never serious, though. It never led to more,” his shoulders deflated and became more relaxed in his sitting. “Hey, the only thing I know about your dating life is that you regretted dumping Ryoichi,” Johnny reminded Frankie of the handsome Japanese-American boy she had once a thing with. “Because that’s the only content of my dating life,” Frankie snorted. Johnny faced the front, Taipei was so serene and calm, if only his heart was like that. “And Lucas,” he exhaled.

It was Frankie’s turn to face him. She was feeling something but was scared to say it. She wasn’t as naïve as they had thought.

“Don’t you have a crush on anyone right now?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I don’t know—I mean, it’s not quite clear yet. I don’t know if this is a real crush or something more? I don’t know—I’m still really confused.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause. The rays of the setting sun illuminated the faces of them both. Frankie wanted to know more about Johnny’s supposed crush. Even though she doesn’t want to feel it, she doesn’t know why she felt the slightest bit of jealousy on whoever that was.

“Can I know the name?”

“Of my ‘crush’?” Johnny had made quote motions with his hands at the mention of the word crush.

“Yeah?”

He smiled. He wanted to laugh but he figured it probably wasn’t the best idea to do.

“I’ll tell you when the time’s right.”

Frankie lightly punched Johnny’s arm and continued on gazing at the view.

In the distance, her parents were watching the two, almost adoring them. “They suit so much as a couple. They are both clearly happy with each other,” Frankie’s mother faced her husband, “don’t you think?” Frankie’s father nodded in agreement.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The two went exactly home at 9 pm, with Frankie’s parents sending them upstairs. Frankie was supposed to sleep in the hotel with her parents but her parents, after seeing Johnny and Frankie’s dynamic together, decided it would be alright if Frankie just stayed in the dorm with Johnny. Her parents would like to believe they were playing matchmaker. Frankie was really in awe with her parents because that was unlike conventional Asian parents. But then again, her parents were weird.

“You’ll be sleeping in my room again?” Johnny was already in his pajamas, lounging around Frankie’s room. He would never get tired of Frankie’s vanilla-smelling room. Johnny picked up an unlighted vanilla-scented candle on Frankie’s top drawer. He laughed. This was the culprit.

“I didn’t know you were the type to use scented candles,” Johnny inspected the candle. He was not mocking her, he was just surprised. He thought the vanilla scent came from her perfume. “I’m not,” she fluffed her pillows, “June uses one whenever she’s here. That’s hers, actually. She just leaves that here so that whenever she comes here in my room, she just lights one.” Johnny puts the candle back down, “I should’ve known.”

“I actually like the smell, so I light that up too occasionally. She’s not the only one allowed to use that,” Frankie tied her hair in her signature ponytail. “Go back to your room,” she opened her laptop, she began to type something. Johnny looked perplexed. “So I take it you’re not sleeping in my room tonight?”

“Nope,” she lifted her head from the screen, “maybe tomorrow night.” He nodded. “I’ll be going on my way then,” he put on his bedroom slippers. Johnny took a last glance at Frankie before going to his room. She was still the cutest even without exerting effort. “Good night, Frankie.”

“Night, Johnny,” she replied and pulled her tongue out. Johnny did the same gesture as hers before opening the door and finally exiting.

The call was instantly connected and with the blink of an eye, June’s face was on her laptop screen. June had her hair in a bun and her face was glistening, Frankie figured June just finished doing her nighttime skincare routine.

“Miyashiro, what’s up?” June smiled, her face sitting on her palm. “I’m so confused about what’s going to with my life,” Frankie pouted. “Hmm, why? What happened?” June sounded concerned.

“So, my parents came in today. And they invited Johnny out to join us for lunch. And we strolled a little bit. We came up the 101 again. And, yeah.”

“And?”

Frankie continued on pouting and slumping on her position, “I may or may not have a crush on Johnny.”  
June laughed, “I’ll take the first choice.” June bit her smile to suppress the incoming fits of laughter, “I think you are the only one who didn’t saw that coming.”

“What coming?”

“You having a crush on Johnny and Johnny having a crush on you.”

“Johnny has a crush on me?”

“I do think so.”

Frankie scratched her head. She doesn’t even know if she really liked Johnny in a romantic way and Lucas was still not out of the equation.

“Do you like Johnny?” June blurted as if she had read Frankie’s mind.

Frankie sighed. “My body says Lucas but my mind says Johnny.”

“What does your heart say?”

“I don’t know?”

June smiled. “Don’t get too worked up over it. You’ll know in no time.” Her smile got wider. “By the way, Taeyong and I will try again once we come back.”

Frankie clapped. Her happiness was radiating from the screen. “I’m so happy for you, June! Finally!”

“I can see where this goes,” June glances down for a minute then her eyes met with Frankie’s on the screen, “but I’m hopeful.”


End file.
